Hyper Dimension Holidays
by Str1k3N01r
Summary: A series of stories, showing how the goddesses (and occasionally the makers) enjoying Gamindustri's holidays. Will cover Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day. May expand to include Halloween and Lunar New Year when I have the time.
1. A Christmas Tale

**Before you begin reading I would like to say that Hyper Dimension Neptune doesn't belong to me. I only own any Maker and Goddess OCs that are mentioned in this fic.  
**

**First and foremost thanks for actually clicking on this fic to read, but i would like to warn you that I picked Pururut and Piishe instead of Plutia and Peashy because I don't like what NISA did to them. I use Japanese honorifics because it is easier for me to show respect compared to merely calling someone big sister. Alright, now that the introduction is done... Go on, get reading!**

* * *

**Hyper Dimension Christmas**

**[V Planeptune – Basilicom] {23/12}**

"Christmas is coming soon," Pururut looked at her calendar while sitting in the middle of her room, using the kotatsu to keep herself warm. It appears that she was in the middle of doing her work, but she was rather unmotivated. The kotatsu was only making things worse. Histoire was reminding her to do her job even if her 'relatives' are not around. IF and Compa were accompanying Piishe to play snowball war outside. The young goddess did not even know what responsibility was, so she got off lightly.

"Neptune-san did ask everyone to gather at her Planeptune for a Christmas party right?" Histoire replied. "Well, I'm going to prevent you from leaving here unless you clear your pile of work."

"But…"

"No buts," Histoire stopped Pururut before she continued. "If Saturn is here, what would she say?"

Pururut took a deep breath before she sighed. Saturn was one of the people she befriended during their adventure just a few years ago. It pains her to remember that she actually had forgotten all about her at the end of their journey… no. not only Pururut, everyone except Blanc seems to forget about Saturn when their journey was over. Pururut could not forgive herself for forgetting about her friend.

Realizing that Pururut's mood suddenly took a turn for worse, Histoire could only sigh and said that she's sorry for bringing Saturn's name up. Pururut was not listening and actually did her work seriously for once. She might not look like it, but she did miss Neptune and Nepgear. Occasionally Pururut will flee from her nation to visit her counterpart only to be recalled home when Histoire noticed. Of course, now that she's in a relationship with her Noire, she started to take her work as a goddess seriously... a little bit. Although, as Noire said, it wasn't good enough.

Pururut glanced at the stacks of papers that she had to clear before Histoire would re-open the portal she and her counterpart maintained for an easy dimension jump. Pururut had to clear it before Christmas Eve, or else her efforts would be for naught and she'd have to spend Christmas alone for the first time in a few years. Before Noire became a goddess, the pair always spent Christmas together. After Noire became a goddess, Neptune was there to keep her company. Noire had begun spending time with her again now that Neptune and the others had returned home. However, Noire also had her own nation to look after and could not be in Planeptune all the time. Pururut was contemplating on combining the two nations together, as Noire once suggested with Blanc's and Vert's full support, but waved it off. After all, she had both Noire and Blanc wrapped around her little finger. Mainland Gamindustri was under her control… if she wanted to dominate the others.

"It was so lively back when the four of us shared this room," Pururut said softly before she continued her work. "Ahh… what I wouldn't I give to bring those days back…"

"Well… you have to be more responsible with your work if you want to spend time outside your nation," Histoire replied before she left Pururut's room. That was the moment that Pururut had been waiting for. She quickly took out her N Gear and dialled her best friend's… no, her girlfriend's number.

* * *

**[V Lastation – Basilicom]**

"Yeah, I predicted that this scenario would happen. Don't worry, I'll come over to help as soon as my work is done," Noire said over her N Gear while her subordinate, Ace, looked at her questioningly. Noire then closed her N Gear and sighed.

"Is there something the matter, Noire-sama?" Ace asked.

"Ah you know… the goddess of Planeptune likes to skip her work to come over here and play," Noire smiled.

"I think I understand. So you're heading over right now?" Ace smiled knowingly before asking again.

"I'd have to at least clear the job that only I can do. I trust that you can do the rest in my absence?" Noire asked before she returned back to work.

"You know me, my lady. I'm always here to serve," Ace bowed. "You can count on me."

Noire sighed before she looked at the picture Ace took before they left for Neptune's home dimension a year ago. Saturn and Nero's wide smile only made Noire miss their company, especially when they too played a part in advancing Lastation so quickly that it overshot the other Lastation by a huge gap. Although, it seemed that her counterpart from the other Lastation was none too happy about it and quickly closed the gap within a year. Noire find it increasingly difficult to contend against a goddess and her candidate while she's doing everything on her own.

"I'm still an idiot… I was too blind to see that my Lastation won't remain ahead of the game without their help," Noire stated. Ace laughed slightly when Noire sighed at her apparent immaturity as a ruler.

"I heard… she gave her life in our place, did she?" Ace asked.

"Yeah… I can't believe how cold I was back after that… I totally forget about her," Noire replied. "What sort of friend am I, forgetting about the very person that helped me to understand what being a goddess is like?"

"I know it is not my place to say this, but…" Ace continued. "Didn't she entrust an important task to you and Blanc-sama?"

"Yes. But neither I nor Blanc could make any heads or tails of what her blade is showing us," Noire replied. She then gave Ace a set of instructions that the soldier can follow while Noire went to Planeptune. After another hour of work, Noire was finished with the tasks she wanted to clear before Christmas and quickly made some preparations for the Christmas Eve party, since Neptune told them that they were going to stay for the week until New Year's. Good thing that she already packed her bag beforehand. Noire went out to her room's balcony and was about to transform, but her subordinate's voice interrupted her.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Noire-sama," Ace smirked. "If you know what I'm saying, that is. I wouldn't want to make Pururut-sama angry."

"W-w-what are you suggesting I would do?!" Noire started to stutter, clearly flustered at the topic her subordinate just said.

"Well, Noire-sama just confessed that you love Pururut more than as a friend," Ace replied. Noire was shocked that her subordinate knew despite the fact that the fact that only the other goddesses were supposed to know. "So will you merge Lastation with Planeptune?"

"I… don't really know about that," Noire replied. "Blanc and Vert was voting for it to happen, although it isn't exactly a good idea."

"If you decided to merge both nations, what would you call it?" Ace asked. "Planepstation?"

"As if I would name the new nation after that stupid television show Neptune invented," Noire sighed. "Although… it does merge very well and has a nice ring to it."

"I think you better get going, my lady. Only the true goddess knows what Pururun-sama will do to you if you're late," Ace smirked.

"You're the one that made me late, idiot!" Noire said before she transformed and flew towards Planeptune, her bag of clothes in one hand.

"Well, I best get back to work," Ace smiled before she retreated into the basilicom.

* * *

**[V Leanbox – Basilicom]**

Vert wandered along the halls of her basilicom as she thought of her days with the party and meeting her counterpart back at Neptune's home. However, her objective of attending the Christmas party was to visit that short, black haired goddess once again. Nero's maturity never failed to surprise her and she was impressed that Nero chose to back out instead of fighting when they went to Lowee's basilicom to confront Blanc.

Running around Vert's office was Tecmo and Koei, helpers that Nero picked to help Vert around given her gaming habits can sometimes result in stacks after stacks of ignored work. When Vert tried to show appreciation through a hug, Nero runs away by transforming and flying off the balcony.

"What's wrong with that girl, really… anyone would enjoy getting hugged by someone like me," Vert said. "Well, anyone but Blanc and Nero."

"Vert-sama, here's your food," Koei brought some lunch for the goddess of Leanbox, who was once again playing some games on her console. "Don't overdo your gaming… you might overheat."

"Thank you," Vert patted the shorter girl before returning to her game. "I'll make sure I take enough rest."

"Don't ignore your work too," Tecmo groaned. "We might be able to help you out with most of the repetitive tasks, but jobs that specifically require your attention shouldn't be done by us."

"Oh all right. Just let me save my game and I'll get it done," Vert replied as she reached the save point. "After all, I have a Christmas party to attend to. It would be inappropriate for me to attend with work piling up behind my back."

Vert joined her two helpers to clear the stack of work that she had ignored ever since a few weeks ago. She wouldn't want to be the only one that was late to the party. While doing her job, she was asked by her two helpers about the goddesses from the other Gamindustri, mainly the candidates, Neptune, Nero and Saturn. Vert explained that Nero and Saturn seemed to originate from alternate timelines within their own dimension, thus them not knowing each other until they noticed each other's weapons. On the other hand, Neptune and the candidates originate from a dimension that theirs were currently linked to.

"So… where did Nero-san and Saturn-san go?" Tecmo asked.

"Nero returned with Neptune and the candidates back to their dimension," Vert said before her face turned sorrowful, even if it was for a while. "As for Saturn… she's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Tecmo asked. Vert's silence only convinces that she was correct. "She didn't… did she?"

"Saturn sacrificed herself for the greater good of Gamindustri, to say the least," Vert answered. "I don't really want to talk about it. I claimed to be her friend, yet…"

"Then don't force yourself, Vert-sama," Koei said before she took yet another stack of papers for herself. "And Tecmo, stay focused. We don't want Vert-sama to be late for her Christmas party."

The trio blazed through their work without much conversation aside from Tecmo's occasional questions on her goddess' friends. Despite Koei's misgivings, Vert gladly responded. After all, she said that working without any conversation or background music was boring. Seeing that Vert doesn't mind, Koei chose to keep her mouth shut and focus on her work.

After the piles of work were finally cleaned off Vert's table, the two helped her to pack enough belongings for her trip to the other side of the portal. Initially, Vert wanted to bring more than just her clothes, but after a long negotiation, she agreed to leave most of them behind and brought only her clothes.

"Don't forget. Vert-sama is the ambassador of this Leanbox," Koei smiled and gave the goddess a nod.

"I doubt there would be any work piling up now that it's Christmas," Tecmo placed her left hand on her chin. "So don't worry about us. Your nation is in good pair of hands."

* * *

**[V Lowee – Basilicom]**

Blanc placed her pen down as she finished her job. The magicians of Lowee did a good job in preventing the change of weather from ever affecting the nation, placing the nation in eternal autumn. Not too cold, yet not too hot for the young-looking goddess.

"Good job today," she said to the people she met as she walked around her basilicom. Everyone except the guards would be returning to their family in order to prepare for Christmas. It is the only time of the year where Lowee's magicians will drop the barrier, even if it was only for a little while, so that the little ones could enjoy the snow.

"You said that… because of my appearance, I should appeal to the young ones or the ageing population instead of trying to compete directly with the other three," Blanc said to herself and smiled at the memory of her best friend. "So far, it is working well."

Blanc then looked up towards the sky, which was illuminated by the light of the setting sun. "I know you're out there, somewhere, watching over us. I'll find your successor and train her like how you had advised me."

Blanc's path of her usual walks around the basilicom eventually led her to the same room that Saturn had used when she stayed in Lowee to help her out. The same room now housed the only object she left behind after she faded on top of Neptower in the other dimension: Saturn's nameless sword. It was the reason why Saturn had remained as a goddess even though Neptune lost her powers after they were stranded here. Next to the sword was a piece of Goddess Memory.

After the Seven Sages were exposed, they left behind the stockpile of Goddess Memory that they had gathered while pretending to serve her. Saturn's last instruction was that Blanc and Noire work together and locate her successor, somewhere within Neptune's or Pururut's Gamindustri. So far, she and Noire had ordered their armies to sweep their respective territories for clues, but they had found nothing. She also asked Pururut and Vert for help, although while Vert replied that she didn't see what Blanc was looking for, Pururut hadn't replied to her query yet.

"Why?" Blanc spoke quietly as she looked at the sword. Tears threatened to fall as all the painful memories returned. "Why did you have to disappear? You were like a big sister to me."

"Blanc-sama?" someone spoke from the other side of the door. On Saturn's recommendation, she invited the source of the voice, Treasure, to assist her in not-so-important duties.

"Not now, Tre. Leave me be. I'm fine," Blanc replied.

"But you sound…"

"I said, leave me be."

"If you say so, my lady. By the way, preparations have been made for your departure into the other Planeptune."

"Thank you."

Blanc then grabbed the sword by the hilt, once again experiencing the same vision that the sword gave her and Noire. A house located near a lake and a purple haired girl wearing a straw hat casting her fishing rod into the lake. This time, the vision was a little clearer. After a while, the vision stopped and Blanc carried the sword back to her room and placed it together with her luggage. The days between Christmas and New Years would be sufficient for her to conduct a search in Neptune's Gamindustri… provided that Noire actually helped more actively.

After getting ready, she transformed and left her basilicom from her room's balcony. Her current destination now was Pururut's nation, Planeptune, where the portal to Neptune's Gamindustri was located. Not that Blanc really mind travelling there first instead of meeting directly at the portal entrance. Pururut was her first friend from outside Lowee after all. Although Blanc occasionally shudder at how Pururut pretty much holds the power over Lastation despite Noire being the actual goddess.

"I need to ask her on that topic later," Blanc muttered as she willed herself to fly faster.

* * *

**[V Planeptune – Basilicom] {23-24 / 12}**

"Looks like everyone is here," Histoire said as she acknowledged Vert's arrival.

"Last one to arrive… again," Vert sighed.

"Well you're the one who were having fun playing games while we're working our asses off, thunder tits," Blanc reprimanded the taller goddess using a line that she picked up from her counterpart. That nickname caused Vert to cringe slightly.

"Now all we need to do is to wait until Pururut and Piishe finished their preparations," Noire sighed. "Good grief. Not only I'm forced to leave my not-so-important works to my secretary, I have to do some of her work for her as well."

"It's your choice," Blanc replied. "You were the one that confessed to her after Neptune and her girlfriend declared their relationship in front of everyone that was present."

"Indeed. I can't really deny that," Noire smiled. "This is just a price to pay. I like Pururut, I really do."

"You really sound like a married man that is complaining about his wife yet at the same time he loves her no matter what she do," Vert sniggered, causing Noire to pout slightly.

"Can't deny that one either," Noire sighed after she realized that the two are picking on her. She can't really blame them for picking on her every time the chance to do so presents itself. She picked on both of them when they had just met. It was through Saturn, Pururut and Neptune working together that the three are incredibly close now, despite the fact that they do insult each other often.

"I can't imagine what would've happened without them, though," Blanc replied as she sat down and began peeling the oranges that was piled on the kotatsu. "If they didn't even arrive in here, the Seven Sages would've betrayed and got rid of me after they had finished using me."

"We should be glad… if it weren't for those two, we would be at each other's throats by now," Vert supported Blanc's statement. "It pains me that one of them is gone and the other outright dislikes me."

"I don't think I recall her asking you to smother her, given how well endowed you are," Blanc replied, venomously when she's talking about Vert's ample chest. "She's only one centimetre taller than me, you know. Hugging her that way will only prevent her from breathing. Of course she wouldn't like it."

"Vert, you should try hugging her from the back or asking her to sit on your lap," Noire suggested and smirked. "Maybe Nero might like it. Can't guarantee the results, though."

"I think I'll give that a try," Vert replied.

Pururut and Piishe then arrived at the living room, joining the three that were already using the kotatsu. With the five goddesses from this dimension assembled, Histoire contacted her other self on the other side and started to make preparations to reopen the portal. Both Histoires chose to shut down the portal after they realized that Pururut or Neptune would cross over in an attempt to skip work. Now that the two had started to take their job more seriously, they decided to reopen the portal on Christmas Eve… tomorrow.

It was getting late. Piishe returned to the room she shared with IF and Compa while Noire slept back on her old bed in Pururut's room. Vert and Blanc took the guest room that was previously occupied by Saturn and Neptune. They woke up early next morning to see that the portal had been opened and was now stable for inter-dimensional hop. The five stood in front of the portal as IF and Compa watched.

"IF, Compa. I trust that the two of you can handle anything in my one week absence?" Pururut asked.

"We will. Although I'd prefer it if we can come along," Compa sighed.

"Now now, Compa. Pururut did mention that our counterparts back in Neptune's dimension dressed similarly as us," IF replied. "We wouldn't want to have a case of mistaken identity."

"Yes, but…"

"Now that everything is settled, let's cross over," Noire smiled.

"Me first!" Piishe ran ahead of the group and into the portal.

"I envy her enthusiasm," Blanc smiled before she and the other three entered the portal one after another.

* * *

**[Planeptune – Basilicom] {24/12}**

"We're here," Pururut announced as she led her group into Neptune's basilicom. The five were covered in snow thanks to the freak snowstorm that was going on outside. Thankfully they were dressed for the weather.

"Ooh! About time!" Neptune pouted before her smile returns. "What's keeping ya so long?"

"Pururut and Vert needed some help to catch up to the amount of work they stacked over the past nine months," Blanc explained.

"We're truly sorry about the delays," Vert apologized.

"Nah, it's okay. The others told me that they're running late because of this unusually heavy snowfall," Neptune said. "We've got time to spare. Histy told me she already had the rooms ready, but she's leaving the sleeping arrangements up to us."

"Where's Nero? I expected her to be here," Piishe asked Nepgear, who was fixing Uni's Laptop computer.

"Nero stayed in the house that Saturn built a few years back," Nepgear explained. "The others will be stopping by before heading here to ensure that Nero comes along."

While the others are busy talking and catching up, Blanc tugged Noire's sleeve and brought her into the corner to discuss about how they're planning to find Saturn's successor in just one week. While Noire wasn't very optimistic about their chances, she believed that if they could get some help from the goddesses in Neptune's home to narrow down search locations, they could do it.

They foresee no other potential problem in the search for Saturn's successor. The actual problem lied on how to train said successor after she had been found. Maybe they could just let their counterparts here do the job? After all, they had known Saturn for much longer than the pair. They should be able to groom the new goddess better since they were also veterans.

Noire then told Blanc that she had located the house that the sword showed them in the vision, at least within their own dimension. Unfortunately, it was infested by monsters with no trace of its inhabitants. That pretty much guarantees that they could locate her here, within Neptune's Gamindustri.

The pair rejoined the group around the table, with Nepgear serving them some of her famous blueberry pancakes. Piishe and Pururut looked like they're in heaven. At the very least, Neptune was trying very hard to maintain her manners.

"Ah. You two, where have you been?" Vert noticed the pair. "You missed on the good stuff."

"You mean the first serving of the mature candidate's pancakes?" Noire sat to Pururut's right before helping herself to a piece of pancake and taking the maple syrup away from Neptune despite her protests.

"Ehehe. Gear-chan will grow up to become a good goddess," Pururut beamed. After years spent in Pururut's dimension, Pururut viewed Nepgear, Neptune and the currently absent Saturn as family. She then hugged Noire before asking, "Don't you think so, darling?"

"D-d-darling!? I told you not to call me that in front of the others!" Noire's face immediately grow as red as a tomato… or maybe an apple.

"Eeeeeeeeeh? But, that's the only way I can refer to you in front of Neptune's own Noire," Pururut frowned slightly.

"Ah… young love… ain't that cute," Blanc smiled before putting another piece of pancake in her mouth. Noire tried to open her mouth to protest but she promptly shut it when she realized that she had no proper words to make a comeback.

"You're so stiff," Vert remarked. "That's why you're so easy to tease."

Out of the corner of Noire's eye, she noticed Neptune making a 'heh' face for a split second before she returned to eating. Nepgear had finished cooking and was now seated next to her sister. Nepgear also took some pancakes, but compared to Pururut and Neptune, she barely took more than a few pieces. She then returned to trying to fix Uni's laptop after finishing her share of the pancakes.

"Anyway, Neptune," Noire glanced at Neptune and looked at her from head to toe. "Please wear something more decent. Do you seriously wear those outdoors?"

Neptune glanced at her purple hoodie before she grinned. Noire looks significantly disturbed that Neptune was only wearing her hoodie and nothing else, unless Noire counted Nep's undergarments. Although Noire didn't have the right to complain given that what she wore usually exposes a lot of skin. Her winter clothing was the sole exception to her collection of midriff-baring outfits.

"Whatever happened to the clothes you wore when you get sent to our dimension?" Blanc joined in.

"Well…" Neptune tried to avoid the question, but Nepgear answered instead.

"Uni borrowed it a couple of days ago," the purple candidate answered without realizing that she had indirectly dug her own grave. "She wants to go around Planeptune incognito."

"So you let her borrow your clothes?" Vert asked. Neptune nodded and went to explain that the Lastation candidate has similar measurements so she was glad she can help.

"And?" Blanc asked, clearly more perceptive than the others. "What happened to it?"

"Let's just say that Gear here went out of control halfway through the ordeal," Neptune smiled nervously while Nepgear went extremely red and started denying what had just left from Neptune's mouth.

"I did not do such a thing!" Nepgear said.

"I never actually said what you did… well, if you didn't, I wouldn't have to wear this again," Neptune remarked. "It's a fact that you did something to her."

"I did not do anything!" Nepgear protested.

"Okay… you two please calm down," Pururut tried to dissolve the minor conflict caused by Vert, Noire and Blanc. The trio had taken the chance to seat at the various couches that are placed around the fireplace area which Neptune had installed a few days prior to make the room cozy-er.

* * *

**[Leanbox – Basilicom]**

The abnormally heavy snowfall was causing most of Leanbox's populace to remain at home. The same can be said to their goddess, but it's only because Vert was one of the new game's beta testers. 'Four Goddesses Online 3', a sequel to the online game that Vert pretty much plays all the time, were using their experimental Virtual Reality technology and Vert was excited to be among the one thousand players from Gamindustri chosen to beta test it.

Leanne, also known as 765 when she's on stage with 5pb., looked at her adoptive elder sister before she sighed. So does Chika a few seconds later. Both of them are rather worried because Vert has been gaming nonstop, taking a break only to eat and nothing else. Not to mention that this new Virtual Reality technology allowed her to endlessly play her game without getting tired at all since there were no need to press any buttons on the keyboard whatsoever.

"Leanne… onee-sama has been wearing that thing for days now," Chika groaned.

"I really wanted to just disconnect it from her console sometimes," Leanne replied to the worried oracle. "Still, I wouldn't want to see her pout."

"My, my... is that so? How cruel,"

It appears that Vert was logging out of the game when Chika and Leanne started speaking. Despite what Vert just said, she looked really happy.

"I take it that it was a good experience, onee-chan?" Leanne asked.

"Yes. I was able to retain all of my combat skills even in game," Vert smiled and patted her adoptive younger sister on her head. "I must admit, the developers really want to make video game similar to reality. This helps me a lot, of course. Now that I'm no longer bound by most of rules in MMOs, I could grind faster with my own skills."

"Most of the rules?" Leanne asked.

"Basically, the only thing restricting me from doing what I like is just the level system and the fact that I can't transform in game," Vert explained. "Otherwise, I'm allowed to use all of my combat skills, except my special attacks, to fight monsters in the game. All the training I got from sparring with the other three finally paid off."

"That sounds good, onee-sama!" Chika smiled.

"Thank you, Chika. Now I'm afraid I must get going," Vert smiled at the two. "I promised Neptune to drag that girl from Saturn's home to celebrate Christmas even if I have to resort to force to do so."

"That girl? You mean Nero-san?" Leanne asked. Vert nodded to answer her question. "I thought Nero-san is very friendly to Neptune-san?"

"Let's just say that… Planeptune holds many painful memories for all of us," Vert replied. "Saturn died there exactly one month after the final battle ten months ago… but… Noire and Blanc from the other side believed that she was already dead ever since that last battle we fought."

"How so?" Chika asked. "I mean if she's already dead, then why is she still around for a month? Is she a ghost?"

"I only know that she isn't a ghost. We could still interact and see her… anything other than that is unclear," Vert answered. "Technically it would be impossible… that shows how powerful she really is."

Vert stopped and looked outside her room's window before continuing her explanation on how Nero was emotionally attached to Saturn because they originate from the same dimension, even though they originate from different timelines.

"That girl really missed Saturn… but she needs to know that she's not the only one that misses Saturn," Vert replied. "Chika, Leanne, do you two mind preparing the bath for me? I have to reach Planeptune before the sun sets."

"Okay," Leanne got up from trying to write down her lyrics and left with Chika. In the meantime, Vert prepared her clothes for her stay in Planeptune. She also decided to bring some books as well, to share with her other self. After Leanne and Chika informed her that bath was ready, she dragged both of them inside to join her. Given that she's staying over at Planeptune for a week, it would be a good idea to do this before Chika gets what Leanne described as 'withdrawal symptoms'.

After the bath, Vert left her basilicom already transformed and flew towards the direction of where Saturn built her home. It would be her first stop before heading to Planeptune. Vert had wanted Nero to become Leanbox's candidate, but Nero had refused the offer even though Vert's nation had always been the only nation that lacks a candidate.

* * *

**[Lowee – Basilicom]**

"_Mid-day street walks, lights fell and dispersed in the air. Nobody stopped to see them fade. Your eyes seemed so innocent. Everything made sense to you. They didn't to me…"_

"Could you two be quiet?" Blanc asked. "I'll admit that you two are very good singers, but I'm trying to read here."

"But… onee-chan… Atlus wants us to memorize the lines for our next singing session," Ram pouted. Rom only nods a few times to support Ram's sentence.

"Why don't you head to your room and practise?" Blanc suggested while still maintaining her usual straight face. Her tolerance level with the twins had been greatly increasing ever since Atlus gave her some pointers on how to deal with the two. "This is a place for reading. It's meant to be quiet."

"Okay," the twins chimed before leaving the reading room. Not long after the twins left, Mina entered. It has been quite a while since Mina returned from her sabbatical away from national matters. Apparently she was unable to stay away from Blanc and the twins for too long and eventually decided to return to work at the basilicom, although now she only works part time.

"I can see that Atlus' presence in here have made you more tolerant with your sisters," Mina said, causing Blanc to smile slightly.

"It's not just me. The twins have improved too," Blanc smiled. "I guess I have a good eye for talented people."

"Atlus is no doubt skilled at attracting the twin's attention. I've seen her use a simple trick with the rubber band that causes the twins to stop doodling on your book and started paying more attention to her," Mina replied and smiled as she recalls the days when Blanc was recovering from her imprisonment in the graveyard. "Atlus also have a very traumatizing, yet not physical punishment that she did on the twins before. I haven't told you about it yet, but… the twins were hit by something Atlus said as 'Execution' after doodling on one of her books."

"Execution?" Blanc's face paled. Just hearing the word alone causes Blanc to be extremely concerned about her sisters' safety.

"Your sisters were left frozen to cool off, at least that's what Atlus told me," Mina explained.

"Frozen huh…" Blanc thought of the image of her younger sisters frozen in ice while Atlus looked at them with anger evident in her face. "I'd hate to see that happen to myself."

Mina left the room after leaving Blanc with some tangerines. Blanc continued reading for a moment before she used the bookmark that the twins and Atlus worked together to make for her to make sure she won't forget where she stopped reading and left the room. Along the way, she met with Atlus and asked the librarian to inform the twins to get ready to leave.

"The Christmas party, right?" Atlus asked. When Blanc nodded, she smiled. "Have fun, Blanc-sama."

By the time Blanc had her preparations completed, the twins were already waiting outside with their own luggage for their one week's stay in Planeptune. Although they were all smiles, Blanc could see it in their eyes that they did miss Saturn's constant presence for one week every month. To be honest, Blanc missed her too. She and Nepgear was the only reason Blanc had faith that Neptune will eventually stop being what she is.

"Ready to leave?" Blanc asked.

"Sure do!" Ram smiled.

"We will visit Nero-chan first, right?" Rom asked.

"Nero? Oh… that Lastation goddess from Saturn's dimension," Blanc remarked. "Neptune did told me to drag her to Planeptune whether she liked it or not. Well I am confident to say that I should be able to drag her over should thunder tits and Noire fails."

Blanc, Rom and Ram then took off in their transformed state towards Saturn's hidden house. Hopefully that short goddess will agree to go to Planeptune quietly without the need for Blanc to resort to force. It would really ruin her Christmas mood if she had to do that.

* * *

**[Lastation – Basilicom]**

"Onee-chan, here's all the papers I've done," Uni said while she tidied up the stack of papers on her desk before handing them over to Noire.

"Thanks to you, we are able to get it done rather quickly," Noire smiled. "Not that I can't do it myself if I have to."

"Impressive," Kei remarked. Although she was no longer working at the basilicom full time, she still returned once in a while to ensure that everything is alright. "Last time you would always require Saturn to force you to bed."

"I'm not a workaholic anymore," Noire puffed her chest proudly. "Saturn taught me the importance of resting in between work so that I can continue giving my one hundred percent effort to everything."

"That parable of the lumberjacks, isn't it?" Kei asked. "One that continues doing her work and one that rested once in a while to sharpen her saw blade."

"Exactly. It took me a while to figure it out. Oh right… while I remember, Uni… no more asking Neptune to take over your job," Noire reprimanded the candidate, causing Uni to flinch. "Could you imagine the shock I got when the one wearing your dress turned out to be Neptune?!"

"Well, she was the one who called here out of concern," Uni said, recalling the incident. It happened on the same day when she borrowed Neptune's clothes to hang out with Nepgear. That didn't end particularly well, though. "And it was before Saturn decides to help out the other nations because she didn't want to start a nation on her own."

"In any case, shouldn't you two get going?" Kei asked. "Neptune had asked if you can rest for a week to enjoy Christmas and New Years, so I had taken the liberty of keeping the entire week free of work."

"Efficient as always. Thank you, Kei," Noire smiled before she tidied up her table.

"I'll take my leave then. I too would like to enjoy my Christmas break," Kei replied before she left the basilicom.

"Let's take a bath before we depart for Saturn's home," Noire told her sister. "Come, Uni. Our 'long lost sister' could use some cheering up."

Uni started packing while Noire took some winter clothes out of the wardrobe before heading for the bathroom.

"We'll take turns to save time," Noire replied. "We've been busy with work that we haven't had the time to actually packing our luggage for our one week stay."

"Onee-chan sound excited," Uni replied. "Just don't embarrass us further in front of the others. Onee-chan being jumpy during your first meeting with the others from the other side back then was bad enough for me."

"Put yourself in my shoes. If you had been patrolling around the corrupted Planeptune for days, I'm sure you would've done the same," Noire retorted. "The others and I were barely getting any rest since you choose to follow Nepgear while bringing Rom and Ram with you."

Uni didn't answer so Noire continued on telling her that they're running short of time. Earlier today, Neptune had given a call that the portal to the other side had been opened and the others should be arriving soon. After a quick shower and preparing their luggage, Noire and Uni flew towards Saturn's Retreat.

* * *

**[Saturn's Retreat]**

Blanc and the twins were the first to arrive in the hideout, right outside the house that Saturn called home. They were followed by Vert a few seconds later.

"I knew I would meet you here, Blanc," Vert initiated the conversation. "Hello to you too, little ones."

"We're not little anymore!" Ram pouted.

"Really big onee-chan looking for Nero-chan as well?" Rom asked.

"That's right, Rom," Vert answered. "Although I doubt I alone could drag her to Planeptune if she refused."

"You can leave it to me," Blanc replied. Right after she finished speaking, Noire and Uni joined the group.

"What's up?" Uni asked. "Why is everyone outside? We should get inside and talk to Nero."

Uni knocked on the doors and waited before Nero opened it. Nero did open the door, although her eyes were even redder than normal and showed signs of having cried just recently. Her hair was also in a mess.

"Oh… you guys," Nero seemed surprised. "I thought you should be over at Planeptune already?"

"No can do, Nero-neechan," Ram replied. "You're coming with us."

"I… I'm not going," Nero replied. "I'm staying here."

"Look, we don't have time for this. The others are already waiting," Blanc said.

"Then just go on ahead. My absence won't harm anyone," Nero replied.

"It might not harm us, but you've been with the others for years, haven't you?" Noire tried to play on Nero's guilt. "I'm sure they wanted to see you too…"

"Pururut and the others are here?" Nero asked.

"Yes. They're here," Uni replied. "Come on, Nero. We've known Saturn for years. We missed her, we all do."

"But…"

"No buts. You're coming with us," Uni said and attempted to pull the goddess out of her home. While Nero resisted, she didn't do so without much force.

"Alright. I'll go," Nero gave up. To her, it's either she comes voluntarily or the others will force her to do so. Seeing no other choice, she agreed and hoped that it would give her a time to get over the fact that Saturn was not coming back. "Give me some time to tidy myself up and pack, then we'll be on our way. In the mean time, make yourselves comfortable inside. I'm not rude as to leave my fellow goddesses outside in this snow storm."

While waiting for Nero to finish her preparations, the group looked at how Nero had turned Saturn's once-humble house into a fine place for anyone to live.

"As expected of a fellow goddess of Lastation. Her taste is perfect," Noire declared proudly.

"That's some high quality books there," Blanc said as she looked at the rack in the corner of the room. "Where did she find such extensive collection of Assassinate Creed books?"

"Pity she didn't have any of the books I wanted," Vert sighed.

"I think your 'books' only target a certain group of people," Blanc sneered.

"Excuse me," Vert glared back at Blanc before the twins stepped in between them to calm them down.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Nero ran downstairs clad in her usual outfit, contrary to the home clothes that she wore just now. "Let us leave. Oh, about those books, you can borrow them if you like."

After Blanc finished packing the extra books into her luggage, the group of seven transformed and flew directly towards Planeptune's basilicom. Along the way, Blanc, Vert and Noire conversed with Nero to get to know her better. It seems that Nero was unable to get over her attachment to Saturn and was deeply hurt that she actually withdrew into seclusion inside Saturn's home. Noire, who had been through Nero's current state when Neptune didn't return from work and when Uni disappeared into another world, consoled the younger goddess who started tearing up mid-flight.

"Just let it all out," Noire said. "Trying to act tough will make it even worse. I've been through worse, I can assure you."

* * *

**[Planeptune – Basilicom]**

"Well well… lookie here," Neptune greeted the group when they arrived. "You guys are super duper late. Gear was getting ready to prepare some awesome food for today and tomorrow but she can't do it alone."

"Took us a while to encourage Nero to come here," Noire replied. "She's still affected by Saturn's demise."

"Is that so? I'm so sorry, Nero, but… you need to learn to let stuff go…" Neptune looked at one of her best friends.

"Sorry, Nep. I've had a lot on my mind recently," Nero replied.

"Sorry!" Neptune replied quickly before she realized. "Wait a minute… what am I apologizing for, exactly?"

Neptune's last sentence caused the group to crack for a moment. Neptune always spoke randomly as long as she isn't in her Purple Heart mode.

"Nero!"

Nero looked towards the seating area and smiled at the other goddesses that were seated there. V Blanc, V Vert and V Noire smiled at her. Pururut waved while Piishe looks as if she's about to pounce Nero if Pururut hadn't held on to Piishe's hand.

"Nero! Nero! Nero!" Piishe repeatedly said before Pururut let her go and allowed her to approach Nero. "How are you?"

"I'm fine now Piishe. Thank you," Nero smiled.

"Thank goodness. I was beginning to worry you won't show up," V Noire smiled. "It's been a while, senpai."

"I trust that your Lastation is fine?" Nero asked.

"My nation's doing well. But it looks like Neptune's 'honey' is catching up to me very quickly," V Noire sighed while looking at her counterpart who was now kissing with Neptune under the mistletoe.

"Well, she's definitely the more experienced goddess. Not to mention she had Uni and Arc helping her out with her duties while you only have Ace around," Nero grinned. The two were soon joined by the others from Pururut's dimension to catch up before Nero's cell phone (which was Saturn's) rang. "Excuse me for a moment."

Nero then left towards another corner where she conversed with whoever that was on the other side of the line. After ending the phone call, she gulped before repeating, "I can do this… yeah… I can do this… I just need to spike the drink and make them drink 'it' while they're drunk… or… I can always just hand 'it' over to Pururut…"

After her phone call, Nero realized that the group have divided itself into four while she's gone. Lowee group was decorating the room. Planeptune group was at the Christmas tree, which Nero find odd considering that they aren't exactly tall and the Christmas tree was at least twice of Nepgear's height. Lastation and Leanbox group were inside the kitchen, cooking.

Rom and Ram were setting up the large table that will be used for Christmas dinner tomorrow by setting the tablecloth, followed by plates and other eating utensils. The candelabra were later placed after they were satisfied at the table's condition. The red scented candles that Neptune provided were then placed on each candelabrum before the twins muttered _'Agi'_ to light the candles without the need for them to use matches or lighters. Blanc and her counterpart decorated the basilicom's windows and walls while transformed, so that they could fly and reach areas where they wouldn't be able to reach normally. Nero was surprised that the two were able to do so without making so much noise, given how brash and rude the two can be whenever they're in their White Heart form. They placed the mistletoe on the arch which leads to the dining area.

After a short discussion, the Planeptune group settled on red and gold decoration for the Christmas tree. Pururut had initially wanted blue and silver, but Nepgear argued that it will make them feel blue. Red and gold would make them feel cheerful and happy, something that Saturn would want. The lavender haired goddess always urged the party to stay positive. Decorating the Christmas tree gets progressively harder as they moved on to its higher branches, especially when one took Neptune and Pururut's height in question. They decided to form a human Nep-Tower, with Nepgear at the bottom, Neptune sitting on Nepgear's shoulders and Pururut sitting on Neptune's shoulder to decorate the higher part of the tree. After some struggles and near-falls, the trio finally finished decorating the tree proper. Piishe wanted to transform to put the star on the tree, but Nepgear prevented her from doing so on her own. Instead, Nepgear transformed and carried Piishe to get the younger goddess within range. Neptune sighed in relief, because she knew that Yellow Heart might accidentally topple the Christmas tree since she was unable to contain her excitement often. Given that the tree was placed quite near to the fireplace, it might end up catching fire.

Nero moved quickly to join the other Lastation and Leanbox goddesses in the kitchen since their share of the work was to do the cooking. The two Verts were stuffing the turkey while the two Noires were in charge of making dessert, so Nero joined the lone candidate and started chopping on random items as instructed by Vert. The ingredients Nero took care of will be used to make the side dishes for tomorrow's turkey dinner.

After Nepgear helped Piishe, she went to the kitchen to help Uni out with today's dinner. It seemed that they have settled for a simple V Lowee style dinner of some fish, meat, vegetables and a bowl of rice. Nepgear made sure to cook more than enough, given how much her own older sister, Pururut and Piishe can consume. While the dishes are taking some time to cook, Nero helped to take care of the rice before she returned to her own duties.

While Uni can cook, she just can't make any dish that was too sophisticated. That's where Nepgear's expertise comes in. The two seemed to complement one another in any kind of scenario. Nero looked at the young lovers helping each other and can't help but to smile. During that moment, V Vert took the liberty of hugging the younger goddess from behind. While Nero seemed uncomfortable at the thought of having V Vert's assets directly above her own head, she didn't display any retaliation whatsoever.

"Make sure you don't overcook the rice," Nepgear smiled. "I'm sure you won't want to eat porridge for dinner."

"I'm sure that while we don't mind, but I doubt your sister would be the same," Nero replied before she slipped away from V Vert to join Noire and her counterpart in making dessert. There are all sorts of pudding, pie, even homemade ice cream. V Noire seemed to have made some weird looking liquid and was now in the process of putting it in the freezer to get it ready for tomorrow.

"What's that for?" Nero asked.

"Shaved ice… at least that's what Uni told me," V Noire replied. "It's not just any ice. I mixed it with some milk and sugar."

Nero waited until everyone was too busy to pay attention to what she was doing before she poured a bit of the alcohol she brought into the jugs of orange and apple juice that was placed in the corner of the kitchen table. What she didn't notice was Pururut spying on her from the kitchen's entrance with a split-second sadistic grin in her face. She had her back facing the entrance since she wanted to keep an eye on everyone in the kitchen.

The two Noires add the finishing touches to their collection of sweets and other desserts by pouring the pudding solution into the cups before they placed them in the fridge to cool down. They have yet to prepare the sauce for the pudding, although it can be done some other time. With most the food for tomorrow's Christmas dinner prepared, the group wiped their sweaty brows and rested around the kitchen table. Nero had prepared cups of iced water beforehand. There weren't enough chairs for everyone, so Nero sat on Vert's lap instead. During the short break, Uni and Nepgear prepared the deep fryer to fry the meat and fish.

"In the very least, our connection with Laplace Village has allowed us to sample the good stuff," Uni smiled. "To be honest, I'm not exactly confident with the recipe myself, but looks like the cookbook that I borrowed from the village works."

"Indeed. The name of spices are odd, but after you took me to that village, I was able to discern what they are called in Gamindustri," Nepgear hugged Uni from behind. "Or else, we won't be able to have a good Christmas party like this."

"Laplace Village?" V Noire asked.

"Oh, it's just a place in another world where Uni was sent to when she discovered something in the ruins," Noire answered. "We've established a trading post close to that village and had begun introducing them to Gamindustri's products."

"Another world? Not just another dimension?" V Vert asked. She stopped cutting the vegetables for a while.

"Exactly. Another world. It's not related to Gamindustri in any way. They don't even have goddesses," Vert explained while she picked a large bowl and took the dressing out of the fridge. "Well, they said that they did have one. She's long gone, though."

"It was a long story. I don't think the author would even have enough time to do it in this Christmas fic," Uni remarked.

The short break ended and the group resumed with their respective objectives. Nero didn't have anything to do, so she helped the two Noires with the pudding sauce. The two Verts decided to make salad for tonight's dinner while the candidates fried the meat.

After the food was done, the kitchen team served dinner for everyone. Ram and Rom were playing on the dinner table while waiting for the food, while Piishe kept asking Pururut the same question. She seemed to be incredibly hungry. The two Blancs read the volumes of Assassinate Creed books that Blanc borrowed from Nero. On the other hand, Neptune and Pururut were lazing about as usual.

Exactly like Nepgear had predicted, they managed to finish seventeen people's worth of food even when there's only fourteen of them around. Neptune kept asking for refills, while Piishe and Pururut ate more than just their portion of food. It wasn't long before Neptune started choking on the rice, prompting a worried Nepgear to pass her older sister some water to gulp down the food. Noire could only look embarrassed by what Neptune just did. On the other hand, V Noire had a good laugh despite being silenced by a glare from Pururut.

After dinner, the group returned back to the couches around the fireplace. The goddesses didn't do anything other than relaxing and just discussing random topics among each other. Time just kept passing by as they discussed on random topics that came to their mind. It was obvious that the two Noires are much closer to each other now, given with their bad first impression of each other back then. Their discussions were more business-like, although Pururut and Neptune quickly reminded their respective Noire to quit discussing about work, just relax and enjoy the holiday. Blanc wanted to write a biography about Saturn for the next book competition, so she had been going around asking people what Saturn did. She's currently asking her counterpart on how Saturn changed her life. The two Verts were exchanging some doujins and visual novels from their nations.

Nero, not being in charge of any nation, mingled with the candidates instead of the goddesses. That, in return, prompted Vert to ask Nero once more if she would become her candidate. Before she could finish her sentence, however, Nero shot her down.

"Why didn't you set up your own nation?" Ram asked. "Is it because of the responsibilities?"

"No. it is nothing like that. My country will always be… Lastation," Nero replied. "I'm the goddess of Lastation from where I come from and I always will be. Still, I can see that the Lastation here and the Lastation there are in good hands. There is no need for me to interfere."

"Then come with us!" Uni replied. "Sis could always use an extra pair of hands."

"Oh no you don't. She's coming with me," V Noire overheard the conversation and joined in. "Your sister already have a candidate to help her around."

"I'm sure Saturn would want Nero to resume her duties in helping _my_ nation," Noire brushed off her counterpart's arguments. "Saturn had been doing that long before she landed in your dimension."

It wasn't before long before everyone argued with who Nero should be helping. Nero ended the argument by saying that she will help out only when they really need her help. After finishing her sentence, she looked at the two Verts and gave them a warning not to suffocate her again using their assets.

"Does that mean?" V Vert asked.

"I don't mind sitting on your lap or getting hugged from behind… to be honest," Nero sighed as she felt herself blushing. "Although… I can't say the same to Piishe. She seems to dislike you."

Piishe hid herself behind the slightly taller Nero and nodded twice while huffing. It was obvious that neither of the two Verts left the childlike goddess a good impression.

"Piishe… it's not nice to dislike a fellow goddess," Nero patted the yellow goddess before turning to the two Verts. "You two too. Be a little more gentle… actually, Vert… I don't see how you can't be gentle to me and Piishe with how you're treating Blanc and her younger sisters."

"What?" V Vert looked at her counterpart.

"Well, it's true… I've been seeing Blanc whenever I got bored of playing MMO…" Vert replied. "To tell you the truth, I might lack a proper younger sister, but my fellow goddesses are like younger sisters to me. Or at least I treat them like one."

"You like her huh?" Nero asked.

"Well… more familial than love, given how the twins can get out of control once in a while," Vert answered. "I don't mind helping her to take care of the twins if Atlus isn't around. Although sometimes I feel I'm more of a bother to Blanc than an actual help."

"Hey, I appreciate your efforts," Blanc replied from the couch she and her counterpart are reading. "It's more fun dealing with the twins when you're around."

The group's chitchat returned back to the random topics just like it had before the discussion on who Nero was supposed to be helping out. Nero then asked Pururut, Neptune and Nepgear on how their girlfriends changed their life. The two Noires and Uni also heard and joined in.

Neptune said that she was glad that Noire finally pulled enough courage and confessed. Neptune then goes on telling Nero and the others about how she waited and waited for Noire to confess. Neptune also had to resort to dropping subtle hints here and there that she actually returns Noire's affections. Despite that, however, she used her Neptune persona to play hard to get, which greatly stresses Noire. However, she did manage to make sure that Noire yell out her confession while she thought that Neptune had left. Truth to be told, Neptune… Purple Heart, rather… was around the corner hidden from view and shrouded in the shadows. Noire then mentioned that Saturn did try to play Cupid and make sure the two spend some time together… although back then Noire didn't believe that Neptune actually shared her feelings. Neptune later warned Noire that she dislikes the mixed signals (welcoming her for a few moments before pushing away in the next) Noire was sending to her.

Uni spoke up next, saying that it was love at first sight for the black candidate… even way before she realized that Nepgear was the purple candidate Noire talked so highly of. Uni had tried to express her feelings more so that Nepgear could return them. However, the purple candidate seemed to place her own elder sister first and foremost. Nepgear then admitted that she was rather dense when it comes to love. Although the purple candidate did take Uni out for a date on more than a couple of occasions, she was unaware of the reason why Uni was blushing all the way. Nepgear even did some soul searching to try to understand the signals Uni was giving her. Saturn later explained that Uni loved her and wanted to be with her more than as a friend, but Nepgear wasn't sure how to return Uni's feelings and thus she asked the older goddess for a suggestion (not that she can actually ask Neptune, who at this point, had already started going steady with Noire). After that, the two also started going out. Uni had assumed that her older sister won't approve of her going out with Nepgear, so she refrained from telling anyone other than Saturn. The same goes for Nepgear, who was unaware of why Noire had begun to spend time with Neptune more often.

Pururut's case was one that Nero knew all too well. V Noire had been with her ever since before Saturn and Nero arrived in their Gamindustri. V Noire confessed to Pururut after Neptune and Noire told everyone else that they are dating. Although, to Nero, it was more like V Noire just gave Puru all the reason she needs to violate her best friend. Well, not that she cannot help it. V Noire loved Pururut enough not to run away from Pururut's sadist side even after she transforms into Iris Heart. Nero was almost broken by Iris Heart too, who transformed during their first meeting. Unlike Neptune's beloved, this Noire already knew her feelings from before she became a goddess and was just waiting for the right moment to confess. However, with the Seven Sages lurking around, all of her attempts to confess were often interrupted by emergency situations. Pururut, on the other hand, was waiting for Noire to say the three words. Of course, once Noire actually said the three words, something happens at night, with Saturn and Nero seeing that Noire was extremely tired while Pururut seemed to be more awake than usual.

Nero felt left out when everyone started placing wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree. She had no time to prepare presents since she had planned on not going, but since she's a good artist, she volunteered to do a portrait painting for each and every single one of her fellow goddesses and candidates tomorrow.

"Five minutes until Christmas," Neptune stated cheerfully after she glanced at the clock. "No touchie feelie the presents until dinner tomorrow, though."

"Who made that rule up?" Nero asked.

"Well you're on my land, so I make the rules," Neptune folded both of her arms and puffed her nonexistent chest.

Nero noted that she would make a better impression doing that as Purple Heart, although seeing Purple Heart behave like Neptune would be embarrassing. Nero had noticed that Neptune and Purple Heart was the same person at heart, Purple Heart just provides Neptune the necessary means to get what she wanted in a more suave, mature way.

Pururut was hardly different herself. Despite being sweet and lazy, Pururut has a hidden sadistic streak that triggers when something big happens to her friends. As Iris Heart, however, that sadistic streak also extends to her friends. Nero can only wonder what kind of 'rough treatment' V Noire gets all night.

Midnight soon struck and the goddesses bid each other 'Merry Christmas' before they picked one of the seven rooms that were prepared for them at Neptune's Basilicom. The sleeping arrangements were Uni with Nepgear, Noire with Neptune, V Noire with Pururut, the twins, Nero with Piishe, the two Verts and the two Blancs. When asked for the reason why, Vert told Nero that she wanted to discuss something with her counterpart while Blanc wanted to trade stories with her counterpart for a new novel material that might be able to unseat Falcom's autobiography during the next year's awards.

"Hey…" Nero called over to Neptune, Pururut and Uni.

"What's up, Noire's emo cousin?" Neptune asked.

"I'm not emo," Nero protested. She then Nero lifted six packets of pills that she received a few days prior to the Christmas party. While Pururut and Neptune looked at the pills with interest, Uni turned visibly pale. She had recognized those pills and accidentally swallowed one due to her curiosity while she was trapped in the other world. "I suppose you guys know what this is?"

"How did you get those?" Uni asked.

"You know what this is?" Neptune asked.

"Yeah… of course I knew what that is… those are the pills my friends from another world placed in my luggage before I returned here," Uni replied. "My sister swallowed one by accident, thinking it was vitamin supplement before your visit that day."

Neptune now realized what that pill did before and shook her head, citing that it was impossible for her to actually use it, be it on Noire or on herself. Pururut, who put all the clues she needed from Neptune and Uni took two pills for herself, saying that she was going to enjoy her night before entering her room and bidding everyone goodnight. Seeing no other choice, Neptune and Uni picked two for themselves before retreating into their respective room.

After which, everyone returned to their respective rooms to rest for the night. What happens after the doors were shut and the light turned off… is a story for another day.

* * *

**[Planeptune] {25 / 12}**

Noire and V Noire looked incredibly tired when they left their room for breakfast. On the other hand, Pururut, Nepgear, Neptune and Uni looked energetic as they greeted everyone else in the kitchen. Uni and Nepgear were cooking breakfast for everyone. Everyone had their share of the scrambled eggs, bacon, meat patty, buns and hash browns.

"These look wonderful," Pururut looked at her portion. It seemed that she and Neptune got double of what everyone else are getting. "I've never had something like this before."

"A recipe from Leanbox," Nepgear explained. "I learned during my own adventure years back."

Since the snowstorm had passed, the group took their time after breakfast to make sure that the way to the basilicom isn't blocked by snow. Neptune, Pururut, the twins and Piishe opted to play snowball war while the others worked to clear up the snow. Getting hit by a stray snowball changed everything for Nero, though. Clearing the snow was soon forgotten and the group started throwing snowballs at each other. Snow was cleared from blocking the basilicom in the process, so Neptune had no complaints.

Afternoon was spent touring the now snow-capped Planeptune. Given that the goddesses from Pururut's dimension didn't manage to get some time to tour around Neptune's dimension, they were really surprised at how Neptune's Planeptune was still the most technologically advanced nation despite her darling's Lastation hogging most of the dimension's shares.

"Yeah. The reason why Planeptune has the lowest shares but the best technology is because Neptune had always been focused on putting others ahead of herself," Noire explained.

"Whenever one of us is in trouble, Planeptune will always be the first to respond to our cry for help," Blanc agreed. "Despite Neptune being such a massive show-off, she does live up to her reputation."

"Why else did you think Saturn was helping all of us?" Vert asked.

"Because Neptune is lazy despite being helpful so she sent Saturn in her place while she slacks off elsewhere," Nero answered. The other three thought for a moment before nodding twice, supporting Nero's statement. That in turn caused Neptune to go, "Nep! That wasn't true!"

"That was partially true…" Noire said while shaking her head. "I recall both Saturn and Nepgear constantly complaining about how you like to escape from anything job-related."

While the group was discussing about how Neptune need to improve her work habits, the same was going on with the other group of goddesses. Pururut was contemplating on teaching Piishe some basic responsibilities as a goddess. The candidates separated from the goddesses while they were chatting away, dragging Nero with them. Nero had remained in Saturn's home ever since the end of their adventure a few years back, so they took Nero on a tour around the city. Being covered in snow prevented the group from going everywhere, but most parts of the city were active despite the holiday mood.

Halfway through the tour, the group stopped at a nearby café to get some warm drink and snacks. Nepgear then called her sister to let them know where they were. It seemed that Neptune brought everyone to a department store and the group from the other dimension was busy checking out for anything that they could bring back home. Then Neptune mentioned something about helping V Blanc and V Noire find the area where Saturn's successor could be found, although currently they aren't sure yet.

It was dinner time when they returned back to the basilicom to have a proper Christmas dinner. In order to finish them quickly, everyone except the twins and Piishe were in the kitchen. Minor mishaps happened here and there, although the cooking went on rather smoothly. After everything was done, they moved the turkey to the oven. While that was going on, Noire went to light up all the candles that the candidates and the Blancs placed around the dining room and living room area. Uni left the kitchen afterwards to help her elder sister with the candles. When the turkey was cooked and cut into appropriate pieces, Blanc then called for the twins and Piishe to help carry the dishes from the kitchen to the dining table.

Ram, Rom and Piishe then helped to carry the finished dishes out of the kitchen and set them on the table. Nero volunteered to help them out because she suspected something. Sure enough, Nero had to slap Piishe's hand away from the food to prevent her from getting started too early. Nero later did that to Neptune, who almost got her hands on some of the dessert that the two Noires made during Christmas Eve. Specifically, it was the caramel pudding that was made especially for Neptune by her beloved. After warning Neptune to keep her hands off the dessert until after dinner was done, the two left the kitchen to join the others.

After all of the food was placed neatly on the table, dinner continued without a hassle. The wine bottles that Vert brought from Leanbox were also distributed. Piishe and the twins also wanted to drink, but both Verts prevented them from doing so because they are too young. Nero offered them some grape flavoured soft-drink that she brought with her to compensate for the wine. Fortunately for the others, they agreed and quickly distributed them among themselves. Piishe's portion was limited by Pururut, though. Nero helped Vert to serve the turkey before tucking in to the portion that she kept for herself. As usual, Neptune more food than anyone else combined with Pururut and Piishe following behind.

After dinner was done, the twins cut a large piece of paper into smaller slips before painting the corner of one slip red while numbering the others. Nero wondered what it will be used for before telling herself that there was no use worrying about it now. She should just enjoy the food and continue looking forward to the event that the candidates had set up the previous day. Uni then gathered everyone around the couch area but asked them to sit on the floor while forming a circle because they were about to play a game.

"What sort of game is this?" Pururut asked.

"Well, allow me to explain. While I was stranded in a world without consoles or games, the villagers enjoy playing this game during huge events," Uni said. "It is played by using sticks equal to the amount of players around. All of the sticks are numbered, except for one, which has its end painted red."

"Whoever that picked the stick with the red end is the 'king' for that turn, so to speak," Nepgear continued for Uni. "The king's orders are absolute."

V Vert smirked when she heard about this. Since the king's orders are absolute, that means Nero had no choice but to sit on V Vert if she gets to become the king.

"But there is the reason why the sticks are numbered," Uni remarked. "You can order someone to do something, but not by their name. Instead, you say a number and whoever that happens to be holding a stick with that number will have to do what the king said."

'This will be difficult…' V Vert thought. If she can only order someone to do something through their numbers, she would no doubt need a lot of luck to do so.

"But since we don't have sticks here, Rom and Ram have prepared some paper slips for us," Uni smiled and placed a small can with rolled paper slips inside. "The paper slips will be taken randomly. I will start by asking 'Who's the king?' after all the paper slips have been taken. After that the previous turn's king will have to say the line. Alright?"

Everyone then took seat on the floor next to the Christmas tree, forming a circle. Since Uni knew the game more than the others, she started first by taking a paper slip from the can before passing it in a clockwise motion until everyone finally took their paper slips.

"So… who's the king?" Uni asked, prompting Neptune to jump upright and exclaim, "Ooh! Me! Me!"

True enough, in between Neptune's fingers was a paper slip with the red marking. Neptune then gave her usual cat-like smile as she eyes the crowd. Nero noted that Neptune wanted to say names, but she recalled the rules and started thinking about her next move.

"Hmm… I really don't know which number I should call…" Neptune looked around before asking her sister. "Nep Jr., the number is one to thirteen, right?"

"Yes. The red slip isn't marked with a number and we have fourteen players," Nepgear smiled.

"Hmm…" Neptune started thinking before she had an idea. "One and thirteen, go play Sticky Kiss!"

One and thirteen just happens to be the twins. Rom was rather uneasy at the thought of having to play that game with her own sister, while Ram motivated herself to just get it over with so that the game could continue. Uni handed them the strawberry coated stick to Ram, who promptly bit the non-coated end and offered the other to her older twin. It took Rom a few seconds to muster the courage to started biting slowly towards Ram. However, since both of them were shivering uncontrollably, the stick snapped right before their lips meet.

"Aww… wasted," Neptune sighed.

"Nep-chan! That's so cruel!" Ram protested, evidently still flustered. "Was that your way to get back at us every time we decided to prank you?"

"Ram… its okay," Rom said as she regained her composure. Her angelic smile, something which had been seen earlier in Blanc, seemed to have returned. "I was having fun."

"Right, now that the first round is over, can we put the paper slips back into the tin can so that we can start the second round?" Uni asked. Since Neptune was the king, she collected all the paper slips and shook the can wildly after sealing it before taking the first slip. After the can was passed around, Neptune asked who held the king, causing Uni to stand up.

"Alright. I'm the king now. Which number should I call?" Uni wondered out loud. "Let's see… how about… number two and number six! Kiss under the mistletoe!"

V Blanc looked around uncomfortably when her number, two, was mentioned by Uni. _'Who is holding on to number six?'_ she thought. Nero stood up slowly, her bangs covering the fact that her face is completely red right now. At the same time, V Blanc can sense the jealousy radiating from V Vert and got slightly nervous.

"Shall we… go?" Nero asked.

"Yeah… let's not keep the others waiting," V Blanc replied.

The two of them hastily walked towards the mistletoe branch that was placed directly above the door leading to the room they're at. Nero had cupped V Blanc's face with her hands so V Blanc had instinctively forced her eyes shut for the imminent kiss... only for Nero to plant a kiss on her forehead instead. It appears that Nero managed to find a loophole in Uni's orders and manage to save herself and V Blanc from losing their first kiss, although V Blanc doesn't seem to mind losing it to Nero. She had always liked how compassionate Nero can be towards her friends, even if she does have a huge ego. They returned to the group with some people showing disappointment that they didn't get to see a deep kiss, before continuing on with the game.

The game continued with the next round, with Noire being the king and ended up making Pururut to sit on Neptune's lap. Pururut being herself didn't let this chance to go by and enjoyed it while Neptune cannot do anything to retaliate, lest Pururut decides to go Iris on her. Noire could only sigh at her misfortune, given that she had predicted incorrectly.

Nero managed to become the king after Noire. Her choice of numbers caused Vert to feed Piishe candy using mouth to mouth, much to Piishe's discomfort. While Piishe attempts to resist, Pururut gave her a glare that causes the kid to stop struggling and just accept the candy. Vert praised Piishe for her obedience later on, causing Piishe to simply pout why does she had to get that order, from Nero no less.

The next round saw V Blanc trying to get some payback with what happened to her in the second round, although she ended up making Pururut kiss Noire below the mistletoe, leaving V Noire worried about her counterpart's safety. True enough, Pururut did have her way with Noire under the mistletoe although it was nothing special occured. Both Blancs covered the twins' eyes while Nero handled Piishe, who was once again protesting why she wasn't allowed to see. Pururut returned to the group with a smile to resume seating on Neptune's lap while Noire was trying to catch her breath.

"Ehehe, both of you taste the same," Pururut smiled widely as she returned to her previous position.

"Noire, you okay?" Neptune asked.

"I'm… fine… just a bit… dizzy…" Noire replied. "Just what did you drink before you kissed me?"

"Just a cup of the apple juice that Nero spiked while no one was looking," Pururut beamed, causing the others to look at Nero. "Or at least she thought no one was looking."

"Don't look at me! Someone told me it was a good idea!" Nero replied.

"Who told you that?" Blanc asked. She had a feeling that she knew whoever it was that told Nero that. The twins' teacher had said that she once played the 'king's game' with the other makers until nearly everyone gets drunk. "Wait… let me guess. Atlus?"

Nero nodded a few times to confirm Blanc's suspicion.

"Who's Atlus?" V Blanc asked her counterpart.

"She's the twins' teacher," Blanc replied. "She's the one responsible for the twins being this mature. Else, they would be getting on everyone's nerves."

"I heard tales of this Atlus and her 'execution'," Pururut mentioned. Hearing the word 'Execution' caused the twins to start shivering in fear. V Noire was completely nervous when she heard that as well. The consequences would be dire if Iris Heart learned what it was. By the look on their faces, the others from her home dimension seemed to share the same sentiment.

The King's Game continued on, with many unpredictable results. After the games were over, Pururut was still seated on Neptune. Neptune's legs were numb because Pururut didn't allow her to stretch them. Piishe was piggybacking on Nero's shoulder, much to the black haired goddess' displeasure. Rom and Ram had swapped their outfits, courtesy of Vert's orders when she managed to become the king. V Noire ended up wearing her reindeer antlers in addition to her Santa dress while Noire ended up as the Santa Claus, thanks to Nepgear. Blanc was stripped off her coat, which was now being worn by Uni, and had traded her hat for her counterpart's. V Blanc has kiss marks on the forehead, and both cheeks, done by Nero, Ram and Rom on separate occasions. V Vert was extremely tired when Blanc decides to let them play Tennis on Blanc's console against her counterpart. It was V Vert's first time playing on a console that used motion controller, causing her to get tired far more easily than her counterpart. Vert stretches her arm slightly because of the arm-wrestling match ordered by Nepgear between her and V Blanc. Apparently V Blanc toyed around with her for a short while to measure Vert's overall strength before she used everything she could to win the match.

Shortly after the King's Game, Blanc suggested that each of them have a go at Linken's Crossbow Training, yet another game that utilized the motion control. Given that the game involved shooting, it was a foregone conclusion that Uni and Nepgear would be the top two scorers. Noire shows that she was no slouch herself, barely losing to Nepgear by a few hundred points. Neptune followed Noire closely behind. Everyone else, however, was not as skilled. Blanc, Rom, Ram occupied the remaining slots in the upper half of the score sheet (for obvious reasons), followed closely by Vert, Nero and V Noire for top ten. V Blanc's and V Vert's scores aren't too bad either. Pururut and Piishe were unable to score in their own ways.

After the game was over they returned back to the dining table to start on their dessert. Pururut and Neptune did most of the job, causing Noire to comment on why they can be such big eaters when Pururut was barely active. Nero and V Noire knew exactly the reason why, but neither wished to speak up for fear of their own safety. Once again, Rom, Ram and Piishe would have to be content with the fizzy drinks that Nero provided instead of alcohol.

The dessert was taken out of the fridge and the group huddled together once again by the couches with a few candles lit around them as they relax to enjoy the day. Nero was visibly more cheerful than before she came. She was now playing 'Battleship Wars', another non-console game that Uni brought back from the other side and was currently explaining to Piishe how to play it. The candidates were playing their portable consoles and the goddesses are chatting away with their respective counterparts. Neptune seemed to be in heaven while she savoured the caramel pudding that Noire gave her.

"Ahh… Off time like this are the greatest! If only off time are every time," Neptune said as both she and Pururut lied down on the couch they're sharing. Being short had their advantages.

"Fuaaah… Nep-chan's couches are so fluffy. I could fall asleep so easily like this," Pururut giggled after she finished her sentence.

"Those two are so lazy," Noire said as she observed Neptune and Pururut. "Neptune was way worse than this a few years back… I can only thank Celestia for sending someone like Saturn to knock some sense into her."

"Care to tell me more about my senpai?" V Noire asked.

"Oh sure. It's a long story, but according to Nepgear she fell into one of Planeptune's heritage sites. Neptune's friends recovered and treated her injuries. When she did, she helped Nepgear in her efforts to free us from being held captive," Noire started. "Uni told me that Saturn lost all of her memories when Uni first met her. She said something about Saturn acting just like any normal person until they attempted to re-forge her sword using the power from the candidates. Only then, she recalled her true name and powers."

"Sounds harsh," V Noire replied.

"Yeah, it's true. Since the blade itself is the proof that one's a goddess back in my dimension, getting it broken can have a severe impact on your head," Nero joined the conversation while Piishe was unable to decide where she was planning to shoot next. "Of course, it will take an extreme effort to really make it break. It isn't any ordinary weapon after all."

Nero then said the coordinates for her next attack, taking out Piishe's aircraft carrier. The younger goddess can only pout and throws some tantrums at the loss of one of her ships.

"Ah yes. About Saturn… while it is true that our relationship is more like friendly rivals for shares, she was the glue that kept our little coalition going strong despite the fact that we faced the being that was known to herald the end of the world," Blanc smiled when she remembered the time they spent whenever it was Saturn's time of the month to be in Lowee. "Not to mention the amount of time she spent with each of us to keep us all strong. That's what that allows us to develop our technology and fighting skills."

"Senpai really left her mark here, huh?" V Blanc smiled. "Funny. She left a mark in our Gamindustri too."

"Wish she was here to see us now," Nero looked at the corner of the room… before she noticed a familiar shade of lavender there. It was Saturn, the goddess many thought was gone, sitting directly behind the couch that Pururut and Neptune was lying on with her back facing the group. However, it appears that none of the others noticed she was there and she looked transparent. She looked at Nero for a while and smiled before vanishing.

"_I wouldn't dare to miss this… keep them safe, Nero. I know you can do it"_

'_I will. I'm done running.'_ Nero thought as she returned to the game. Piishe had successfully sunk her patrol boat this time.

After the Christmas party was over, the group once again returned back to their assigned rooms to rest for the day. Pururut pressured Nero into giving her more of the items she obtained last night before ensuring that Neptune and Nepgear did the same.

"This is going to be a looooong night," Neptune groaned.

"Your face early this morning betrays what you say, onee-chan," Nepgear replied shyly. "You clearly were having fun."

"You were the one having the most fun, though. All things considered," Neptune replied before her younger sister turned beet red. Pururut was teasing Nepgear about it as well.

"Goodnight," Nero said before she joined Piishe in her room.

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**Review, if you want to. anything that can help this beginner improve is much appreciated. Especially when English isn't my first language.**

**I know I probably left a lot of things unexplained in this fic, so if you don't mind, just ask me in a PM or on your reviews and I'll get back to you. The only warning I can give is the fact that it contains a lot of spoilers for other fics I have in mind (which is the reason why I excluded the explanation in the first place).  
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	2. 6 Days over 15

**Strike Noir here, with the update for the holiday based fics. I would like to thank Hoaryu, cltheo and ghostdominion6 for giving my fic a try and some feedbacks.**

**As usual, the disclaimer: I only own my OCs. I wish I own the series so that I could make some pairings canon, but eh...**

**I've been writing this down as the days pass, with random ideas every time. I'd like to keep the intros short because you should've read my first chapter if you're reading on this one. So go on! get to it! get reading!**

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**Hyper Dimension New Year**

**{26/12}**

With the Christmas festivities over, the goddesses and candidates have started tidying up the room and prepare for the next event, New Year's Eve. After they finished tidying up the Christmas decorations, the group had lunch and went their own ways to spend the day. For today, let us see what the Lastation group was up to.

It seemed that off-time wasn't really off-time for them, for the two Noires, Nero and Uni was inside the Training Room that Noire and Neptune often used for sparring. Thanks to the virtual battle arena device that Nepgear developed, they were able to go all out and the room would still stay intact. Not to mention that it had the option for different kinds of backgrounds as well.

It appeared that Nero was extremely confident about her skills that the other three decided to attack her the moment her guard was dropped after their free-for-all battle. What they didn't expect was for Nero to actually sense what was coming and promptly parried two consecutive strikes from the Noires before dodging Uni's bullet gracefully.

"That all?" she asked. "I expected much from the veterans."

Nero then laughed noblewoman style. It was the exact same laughter Pururut, as Iris Heart, did whenever she went all S on V Noire, causing her to cringe a little before resuming her strikes. She knows more on Nero's combat style than Uni or her counterpart, given that she spent more than just a few years trying to land a single hit on the more experienced, yet shorter goddess. However, she was repeatedly denied by Nero and was often punished harshly for every mistake she did.

V Noire often wondered how Nero can move like a fluid with her crimson rapier dancing about gracefully, deflecting attacks and at the same time striking back at her foes mercilessly. Her blade, nicknamed Frolic Flame by Uni, seems to be able to phase through another sword to strike at her foes effortlessly while she's on the offense, which gives her an additional advantage. Nero didn't have to worry about anyone parrying her, but she can freely parry and counterattack.

Seeing that powerful ability in action allowed Noire to formulate a plan against Nero. It was an unspoken agreement that V Noire would buy the sisters some time while at the same time revealing Nero's abilities to them while the pair will go in later while V Noire retreats. Broadsword and rapier repeatedly clash while V Noire pressured Nero to go on the defensive so that she could not utilize her blade's phasing ability. V Noire suddenly took a leap backwards while her counterpart and her sister charged with all guns blazing, literally.

Noire had somehow learned how to use a gun and is now firing her double-barrelled magnum revolver at the same time Uni switched her rifle to full auto fire and begin unloading. The sisters coordinated their attacks with an excellent timing that Nero was forced to deflect and dodge whatever bullets that was sent her way.

While Nero is kept busy, the other Noire went out of Nero's field of vision and attempted to ambush her at the back. While the attempt was well done, Nero had been expecting her "junior" to take advantage of the situation and promptly used her as a meat shield against the incoming hail of bullets.

Having taken care of V Noire, Nero moved on to finish the siblings. It wasn't an easy job for her because of a few reasons. One, Nero didn't know what kind of moves they have besides what she had seen so far. That's not saying much because the pair didn't use any flashy, coordinated combination attacks until just a few moments ago because they were in a free-for-all fight earlier on. Two, V Noire had exposed every single trick she had, so the siblings had an advantage. Not to mention that since Noire used the same weapon as she does, Nero will have to be on the lookout for surprises. Neptune did say one that Noire adapts quickly after spending a while in combat. True to that fact, Nero realized that Noire no longer attempts to parry Nero's strikes and instead dodges away.

"Not bad," Nero smiled as she saw Uni covering her elder sister's otherwise unsafe landings by switching to fragmentation rounds before opening fire at Nero. "You two really live up to what the purple siblings say."

"You haven't seen anything yet," Noire smirked before she winked at Uni. Uni alone knew what that wink meant and the pair moved to launch their coordinated attack, something which they developed as a response to the purple siblings' own "Violet Schwestern", which they named "Licht Schwarz". Uni was unable to utilize it in V universe because V Noire lacks any information at how it is executed and would likely fumble without practise.

"Whoah!" Nero remarked as the two moved in for the kill. A few well-placed strikes by Noire followed by covering fire from Uni sealed the three-to-one match in their favour, although they did use V Noire as bait. Something that said girl wasn't too happy about.

"Alright, you win. You got me," Nero said as she struggled to stand. The amount of blows the siblings inflicted on her was bordering on critical. Luckily, the training room was designed such that while the force of the blow was still felt, there wasn't any physical injuries whatsoever. Nero was incredibly skilled, that's what V Noire was sure of. However, she has yet to spar with more than one foe that was capable of coordinating their attacks so well that she had no time to properly read them and get an opening.

"Well that worked out," V Noire remarked as she dusted herself.

"What makes you think you ought to be the 'sacrifice' for the siblings to beat me up anyway?" Nero asked.

"Well… I'm the one who knew all of senpai's tricks. So I figured out I have to do everything I could to ensure that your element of surprise is negated," V Noire answered with a hint of pride in her tone. "That would give the siblings enough advantage to pull it off. I never intended to become a meat shield, though."

"Well that concludes our sparring session," Uni replied cheerfully. Not even Neptune and Nepgear managed to win against Nero.

"Let's head downtown after we take a bath," Noire suggested. "I know a place to spend our tea time at."

"Sure," V Noire replied.

Noire led the party of four into the open air hot spring that they used back while they were trying to get rid of the deity of sin permanently. While they undressed, Uni remarked at how short Nero was (Nero is way shorter than Uni, mind you. She's only a centimetre taller than Blanc, although she's more endowed elsewhere), causing the shorter goddess to make a similar comment on Uni's not-so-perfect chests. The two Noire could only sigh as the other two had a little argument among themselves.

"So I heard that Neptune lost her goddess powers when she first came to your dimension," Noire talked at her counterpart.

"Yeah she did. Can't say the same to Nero and the late Saturn, though," V Noire replied as she washed her hair. "Their weapons let them bend the rules a little, although they did mention that staying transformed drains a lot of their energy."

"Sounds harsh. Especially when Neptune loves everything that comes with her powers except responsibility," Noire continued. "So, when did they obtain their powers back?"

"Neptune got it the same day I obtained mine. Pururut intercepted a rat running away with two Goddess Memories that I've been hunting for months," V Noire explained. "Saturn let Neptune have it first since she completely lost her powers. She obtained hers together with Nero after we invaded Lowee… sort off, to try to negotiate with Blanc."

"I sense that the 'negotiation' didn't go very smoothly?" Noire asked. "Well… from your tone, the very least."

"Nothing is ever smooth. To cut the otherwise long story short, our enemies had been stockpiling Goddess Memories while pretending to serve Blanc," V Noire replied. "When we obtained Blanc's cooperation to get them out of her land, we found the stockpile abandoned. Saturn kept some with her ever since, in case you guys or your sisters went after her and Neptune as a precaution."

"As usual her ability to predict the future helps. She even gave us some while we were hunting after the source of the corruption," Noire replied. "In case we ever need to visit your Gamindustri, so that we won't have to go through losing our powers like Neptune did."

"I was not surprised when I failed to transform when I came to her Gamindustri looking for Nepgear," Uni remarked, apparently having heard of the conversation. Having been trapped for a year in another world unrelated to Gamindustri had helped her to stop panicking. "Fortunately Saturn gave me and the twins a Goddess Memory each so that we can maintain our powers."

Uni, her sister and V Noire shared a good laugh when Nero, who accidentally stepped on a piece of soap, slipped and fell into the hot spring.

"Umm… girls? A little help please?"

"Coming."

V Noire went to Nero and helped her out before giving her senpai a good scrubbing. After drying themselves, the group went out to explore downtown Planeptune and have a good snack at the café which was located at the centre of the downtown area. While the two Noires ordered coffee to go along with their slice of cake, Uni ordered a cup of Darjeeling tea while Nero ordered Hot Chocolate. That alone gave the other three a reason to endlessly tease the seemingly mature Nero at her childish choice of drink. She didn't put any sugar in it, though.

The party returned to the basilicom just in time to cook dinner. Once again, Nepgear, Uni and Nero went to the kitchen to cook some spaghetti, although everyone's different preferences were complicating matters a little.

During dinner, V Noire asked her counterpart about the seaside house that she saw in the vision granted to her by Saturn's sword. In response to that question and the prospect of seeing Saturn again caused Noire to inform Arc and mobilize her troops to sweep the beaches. Unfortunately, Noire told her counterpart that Arc didn't see any building along the beach that matches the description her counterpart had given her.

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**{27/12}**

Blanc and her counterpart relaxed as everyone, except them and the twins, left the basilicom. That would give her some free time to relax and just enjoy the peace and quiet for some reading. Ram and Rom were busy with their own activity on the other side of the room.

"It's very peaceful without the others in the basilicom," V Blanc remarked as she observed the twins before picking a book that was within her reach.

"Isn't that obvious?" Blanc responded before she closed the book she was reading. She had finished the third book of the Assassinate Creed series and was currently moving to the fourth. "Neptune is normally the one that was being targeted by their antics. Without a target, they'd just play among themselves. They used to target me, but those days felt like so long ago. In fact, I missed those days, even if just a little."

"I still can't believe that they used to be as rowdy as you said," V Blanc said as she stood up from the sofa and stretched herself. The two goddesses have remained in their seat from morning, except during breakfast and dinner when they would join the others at the dining table.

"Oh, they used to be rowdy alright. At least until I hired that chief librarian," Blanc replied. "Atlus did a good job in teaching them where my oracle's soft power couldn't. The two have significantly matured since then. At the same time, so does my tolerance level."

"How bad were they exactly?" V Blanc asked.

"Well…"

Blanc then told her counterpart of how the twins were wreaking havoc in the basilicom after the previous goddess retires. They were pretty much breaking rules here and there, generally doing a lot of things that was specifically forbidden in the basilicom. She did try to subdue her younger sisters by force, but they knew her combat style too well that she was the one that ended up subdued. While Blanc could endure their magic and was attempted to strike back, the twins remained at their comfortable range and won the battle of attrition, at the cost of the basilicom's hall being littered with ice shards. Thankfully, any of the important documents was safe in Mina's hands.

"Rather unbelievable, if I may add," V Blanc replied. "So… what did you do to get the librarian? I was under the impression that she would not easily left her job behind."

"Three years prior to my imprisonment in an area known as 'Gamindustri Graveyard', I went to the library based on one of my subordinate's suggestions and hired Atlus' help," Blanc continued her explanation. "The chief librarian was always somewhere her fellow librarians refer to as the 'Velvet Room' for my first and second visits. I only get to meet her in the third visit and my patience is running thin."

"So did you yell at her?" V Blanc asked.

"Oh no. I couldn't bring myself to. I'm there to ask her for help, not to scold her for refusing to meet me twice," Blanc explained. "Her piercing yellow eyes and abnormal grey hair was enough to intimidate me on first glance."

"So… what did she say?"

"Welcome to the 'Velvet Room'… or something along that line," Blanc said before realizing that it probably wasn't the answer her counterpart wanted. "I managed to convince her to move to the basilicom, but she wasn't really happy about it. I got my oracle to focus on clearing most of my jobs that she can handle while Atlus can teach the twins. Surprisingly, it worked."

Rom went and served a piece of cake to her elder sister and her alternate dimension counterpart while Ram poured them a cup of green tea. It seemed that the twins were rather hungry and opted to share whatever that was left from the Christmas cake the Lastation group baked with their 'elder sisters'.

"Thank you," V Blanc patted both of them before they started eating.

The basilicom remained quiet for a while as there was no Neptune around to talk while she eats. Blanc mentioned that Saturn tried to teach her some basic table manners before giving up, causing V Blanc to laugh while saying that it was impossible for Neptune to have table manners. On the other hand, however, Purple Heart will be all ladylike and classy.

It was after they finished their cake that V Blanc asked her counterpart about the seaside home that she saw in the visions given to her by her sword. Unfortunately for her, Blanc said she didn't know because her land is covered permanently in snow. Living in Blanc's Lowee and building a seaside home just doesn't go hand in hand. Although, Blanc did say she'll try to contact Atlus and see what she can find with her search spell. Hours after the order was given, Blanc's N Gear rang, with Atlus on the other side saying that her counterpart might have better luck searching on Leanbox.

After thanking Blanc, V Blanc went back to the book she was reading. It seems to be one of Blanc's own book, published under an alias. The book covers what happened before and after Blanc's imprisonment at the graveyard. V Blanc didn't know about it, so she merely enjoyed it as a good read. Blanc, on the other hand, was increasingly nervous as the minutes pass by. She didn't know if Saturn told any of the goddesses from Pururut's side about their adventure in detail. If Saturn did, Blanc's cover would no doubt be blown. Fortunately for Blanc, her counterpart didn't say anything yet.

The twins have gone to take a nap on the extremely comfortable sofa nearby, their soft snores echoing in the empty basilicom's halls. It wouldn't be long until the others returned, so the two Blancs got up from the couches they were using and moved the twins to their room, with Blanc handling Rom and her counterpart handling Ram. Upon reaching the twins' room, it appeared that they didn't want to let go of their 'elder sisters' and the two sighed.

"Can't be helped then," Blanc smiled softly and turned to her counterpart. "Let's keep them company for a while."

"Sure," V Blanc said before they rest with the twins on the bed.

Nepgear opened the door to the twin's room after she returned home with Uni to ask if they wanted to join the couple for some shaved ice. Seeing the four lying on the bed caused Nepgear to halt and took a picture of the group before silently closing the door and backing off.

"I think they don't want to be disturbed," Nepgear told Uni.

"Nap time again huh?" Uni replied. Having taken care of the twins for a while caused them to memorize when they will just doze off to sleep. Today's 'victims' were apparently their elder sister and her counterpart from the other dimension.

* * *

**{28/12}**

Snow had resumed falling over Planeptune. Neptune and Nepgear took the opportunity to mingle among the local populace as Pururut and Piishe looked on. It seemed that the goddess and her candidate are quite close with their nation's citizens. Most tend to refer to Neptune by name, although they still do so with respect. Not that the goddess mind, though. Occasionally someone will ask where the other goddess of this Planeptune was, now that she wasn't seen anymore.

"Ah… umm… she's… no longer with us anymore," Neptune sorrowfully admitted before she perked up again. "But I'm sure she's still right here, in Planeptune, in spirit. I somehow felt that she's watching us or something."

"Is that so? Well, if Neptune-sama said so, then she even be listening to us right now."

"That's right. She won't want us to be sad," Neptune smiled widely. "We'll just have to keep working hard and thinking positive, just like the way she would want us to."

After she said that, the crowd that gathers around her disperses and returned to what they were doing before they noticed their goddess.

"Nep-chan is really good with work huh?" Pururut smiled.

"Actually, onee-chan used to be very bad at it," Nepgear replied. "Saturn and Noire managed to knock some sense into her. Especially with that little potion Saturn asked an alchemist to brew."

"What did that potion do to Nep-ten?" Piishe asked.

"Pretty much destroyed the barrier between onee-chan's Neptune self and her Purple Heart self for an entire month or so," Nepgear said. "That caused a lot of trouble back then, but thankfully Noire and Saturn kept her stable."

"I can only imagine that," Pururut smiled, although it didn't take a genius to figure out the actual meaning behind that smile.

'_Ohh… I shouldn't have told her about it. If Pururut's consciousness combined with Iris Heart's, even for a month, I'll get into a lot of trouble…'_ Nepgear thought.

"I miss Sa-chan's smile," Piishe suddenly spoke as they walked downtown towards the park area. Despite Piishe and Saturn spending very few time together, it seemed that she did left an impact on the young goddess.

"She does have a very bright smile, right?" Pururut recalled. "Even though she's a little quiet and can be rather stoic most of the time."

"She wasn't that quiet when I first met her though," Nepgear said. "But I think it's because she lost her memory crashing on the old basilicom."

"But Neptune didn't… did you just say crashing on the basilicom?" Pururut asked.

"Yes. She landed there and wrecked half of the heritage site," Nepgear pointed at the old basilicom in the middle of the park. Sure enough, the holes left behind from that event were not fixed. Neptune had renamed the old basilicom as Saturn Memorial a few days after everyone's memories of her returned.

"Although… I heard darling muttering something about finding Saturn's successor. I wonder… what could that possibly mean?" Pururut said casually, attracting Neptune and Nepgear's attention.

"Successor?" the purple sisters repeated together before looking at each other with confusion. While Neptune was trying to make heads and tails of Pururut's words, Nepgear understood after thinking it over for a moment.

"I heard… that goddesses where Saturn comes from were chosen instead of having to awaken," Nepgear replied. "Maybe… she's looking for the person that Saturn's sword chose to continue her legacy."

Could such a person exist? Neptune could only wonder. She'll have to extract the information out of the other Blanc, who kept Saturn's sword to herself. Not that the others argued about it, given that she was the only one who remembered Saturn's role in the conflict. If the sword gave her visions… she might be holding the clues they needed to where Saturn's successor can be found.

"We'll have to ask Blanc about this," Neptune stated her intention to the party.

"Then I'll go ask darling about it," Pururut responded.

"About what?" Piishe asked.

"We're trying to find a way to get Saturn back… sort off," Neptune explained. "And I think those two know what to do."

Hearing this, Piishe brightened up considerably. Although, she seemed disappointed when Nepgear explained that the Sa-chan Piishe knew wasn't coming back, but they were getting someone who could continue her legacy. However, the prospect of having another sixteenth member to the party caused the young goddess to smile widely. Nepgear's cellphone then rang. It was Uni and she wanted to meet up. Nepgear then told Uni to head towards the café that was the most convenient for them because Neptune was starting to starve.

After entering the bakery, it seemed that Nero and Uni had been hanging out together, something which Neptune described as family bonding. Both of them were already inside, with Nero having a bowl of mushroom soup and a few pieces of garlic bread by her side. Uni had a steaming cup of mocha and a slice of cake in front of her.

"You guys are super duper early!" Neptune remarked.

"You're the one who is late," Nero remarked. "We've been waiting here for quite a while."

Neptune then ordered a lot of cakes while the waitress just smiled brightly. It seemed that the goddess frequent this café whenever she tried to escape work. Pururut tried to pay for what Piishe wanted, but the waitress told her that it was on the house. After all, it's not very often that her boss get two candidates and three goddesses in the shop at the same time.

"How did you know that I'm a goddess?" Pururut asked.

"Your eyes betray your experience," the waitress answered as she typed in their orders. "The same like how I recognize 'this talkative little girl' as Neptune-sama even though I have never seen my lady in person until that day."

She went towards the kitchen before bringing their orders one by one. Neptune quickly devoured her cakes, although halfway through she started choking, causing Uni to offer Neptune a glass of water. After draining the water down and thanking the black candidate, Neptune then continued with her cakes at a slower pace. Piishe ordered some pancakes, but only because Nepgear said that this shop is where she had learned the basic recipe from.

After Neptune finished her cake pile, the group returned back to the basilicom. It appears that the others were dining out that night, so Nepgear, Uni and Nero only had to cook dinner for a total of six people… although with Neptune, Pururut and Piishe around (especially Neptune), they'd need to cook for nine instead.

* * *

**{29/12}**

"So… why do I get stuck with you guys?" Nero asked Vert while Vert's counterpart attempted to mend her friendship with Piishe. The smaller goddess was on the other side of the pillar, refusing to let herself be touched at all.

"We can't help it. The Blanc and the Noire from the other side left rather early this morning. Noire and Uni went to train with Neptune and Nepgear somewhere. Blanc and her sisters went to the bookstore while Pururut is still asleep in her room," Vert explained. She too had attempted to mend her friendship with Piishe, without much success. "Piishe still didn't like us too well, so that leaves you to babysit her today."

"I blame you two for treating her like a toy, though," Nero groaned. Piishe just plays cat and mouse with V Vert around the Christmas tree or the pillars inside the basilicom. "No one enjoys being treated like an object."

"For that I have to apologize," Vert smiled at Nero before smiling and waving at Piishe. Piishe saw this and waved back quickly before running away again.

"Over here, Piiko," Nero used the nickname that Piishe goes with on the other side, prompting the younger goddess to hide behind Nero before blowing a raspberry at both Verts. "That's not nice."

"I don't like Verts!" Piishe protested.

"Be a good girl and give her a second chance, will you?" Nero smiled softly. "I'm sure Sa-chan would want you to get along with everyone."

Piishe pouted a long time before she allowed herself to be patted. True to their words, Vert and her counterpart didn't handle her like an object this time. Despite that, Nero went and specifically forbid the pair from exposing Piishe to their hobbies. When Vert asked why, her counterpart warned her of Pururut's potential wrath if she discovered that Piishe learned something that she wasn't supposed to.

"She's scary if you make her angry. Otherwise, she's very fun to get along with," V Vert concluded her otherwise lengthy explanation.

"Is that so? Well, if you two say so," Vert remarked. "Is she really that scary, though?"

"You have no idea," Nero replied. Seeing Pururut angry or hearing her raising her voice or losing the sleepiness when speaking was more than enough to make Nero's senses to scream 'Run now and run fast!'. She didn't even need to be told twice. That was the reason why she managed to evade most of Pururut's wrath.

Piishe then tried her luck playing battleships with Vert. While Vert is an expert gamer, this is something new to her and it took Vert quite a while to actually learn the ropes of the game proper. Still, the moment she knows what to do, Vert decides to mercilessly snipe Piishe's ships one by one… until she chose to just throw the match when all that the young goddess have is just her patrol boat.

"I didn't expect you to throw the match," Nero replied after Piishe started running around the hall saying that she beat Vert in a game.

"You noticed?" Vert asked, prompting Nero to nod her head once. "Playing with Piishe is going to be something similar to playing with the twins. You have to make sure that they're happy. Of course, don't keep doing that either. Let her win once in a while. When you do win, make sure you have a close match with them first. Let her build confidence, you know."

"I guess what Saturn told me about you is true then. You really are the 'eldest sister' among the goddesses here," Nero remarked.

V Vert remained seated at the sofa, thinking of what she overheard from Blanc and Noire this morning before approaching her counterpart and Nero and asking them about it.

"Have you heard? Noire and Blanc left to find Saturn," V Vert said. "Is she even still alive?"

"No, she's not. But I heard rumours that goddesses from her dimension are able to 'stay alive' within her weapon," Vert said. "They might be looking for her successor."

"Right… I completely forgot about that since you guys are different," Nero slapped herself. "When goddesses in my dimension know that their time is approaching, their Goddess Relic will show them where to find their successor. In Saturn's case and mine, our swords are our relics."

"Does that mean that there's a way to grant Saturn a rebirth?" V Vert sounded hopeful.

"Unfortunately, no. The successors do inherit their predecessor's memories, but even then they're still not their predecessor," Nero replied. "It seems that since Saturn is already gone, the sword had no choice but to show visions to whoever that tried to use it."

"Seems that way. Although, why didn't they ask all of us?" Vert asked.

"Good morning…"

That sleepy voice could only belong to Pururut. She had just woke up and is carrying her soft toy with her right now. Piishe ran to her caretaker immediately. Since Pururut heard about the discussion earlier, she showed them a sketch of what Blanc and Noire saw in their visions.

"Can you help?" Pururut asked Vert.

"I guess I could ask Chika to find out if there's any place like this," Vert replied as she sent a text message to her oracle.

During the wait, Pururut was impressed that Piishe no longer said that she 'hated' the green goddesses. Instead, Piishe said she 'disliked' them, a little. Piishe was now seated on Nero's lap as she flailed about wildly. It seemed that the young goddess was super energetic that day and she needed a way to expend the energy from consuming too much sweet stuff with Neptune on the previous day.

"Why don't we go outside then?" Vert suggested. "We can build a snowman while we wait for the others to return."

Piishe was unsure on how to actually build a snowman, so Vert gave her some help. V Vert also supplied some items that can be used to decorate the snowman. Piishe then finally started to gather snow around the basilicom by making a snowball and then pushing it around. Nero also did the same, although hers is much bigger and was meant to serve as the snowman's body. It was during this that Vert received a phone call from Chika, saying that Leanne did find the place they were looking for.

"Although, onee-sama, that place is still considered as Planeptune territory despite how far it is from Planeptune. I don't know what onee-sama wanted from there, but since you're already in Planeptune, you should go and check it out."

"Thank you very much. I knew that I can always count on you," Vert said before relaying the message to Pururut. Pururut beamed at herself, knowing that for once she was the one helping Noire to achieve her goal. Usually, it would be the other way around.

"Did Chika send the coordinates?" Nero asked.

"Leanne has notified me on that matter while I was talking to Chika," Vert replied. "I could forward the message to you. I don't have their numbers after all."

"Alright."

With the snowman completed, the group retreated back into the basilicom.

* * *

**[Somewhere in Suburban Planeptune] ****{30/12}**

"Let's see… if the coordinates given to us by Nero is correct… then the house should be somewhere around here…" Noire said as she looked at the N Gear. She and Blanc was getting closer to their target and were now observing the area around them. It seems odd that a very advanced nation like Neptune's Planeptune would actually have forests around the outskirts of town.

A house lied in the middle of the clearing where the dirt road leads to. The lake that Blanc saw in her vision was located opposite of the house and a river connects the lake to the sea. There is a boat tied to the pier that was presumably used when the owner wanted to fish in the middle of the lake. None of the lights at the house is turned on, though.

"Guess the 'candidate' isn't at home. What now?" Blanc asked Noire. She was rather irritable because Noire snuck into her room and got her out early so that they can catch Saturn's successor and return home in time. Apparently, it seemed that whoever that stayed here woke up much earlier than they did.

"I'm not sure. But the house tells me that she still lives here, contrary to the one I found at Pururut's area," Noire replied. "Guess we should keep searching."

The two roamed around the area. Only low level monsters are spotted and most of them shied away from the pair. Oddly enough, there are two dogoos that patrol around the house, barking at it. It wasn't long before the window opened and an odd cylindrical object was thrown at each dogoo. The small explosion that occurred after the objects came into contact with the monsters cause Blanc to conclude that they are something that functions like grenades… although the monster survived. Instead, they whined and fled away from the house. After the monsters fled, lights turned on slowly before the one at the porch turned on.

The door opened and a lavender haired girl exited the house slowly while observing her surroundings before heading towards the pier. Noire, who happened to be by the side of the house, noticed the girl leaving but didn't approach her… yet. Blanc, who wanted to just get this over with, tried to approach the girl but Noire held her by the shoulder.

"You saw… didn't you?" Noire asked. Blanc, who had tried to resist, stopped and thought for a while.

"Yeah… she looks… exactly like senpai," Blanc remarked. "You don't think…"

"Impossible. We saw her fade using our very own eyes," Noire replied. "Although… it kind of explains why we have counterparts here."

"Ah… that's right… so… do you have any plan so that we can approach her without getting suspected?" Blanc asked.

"I… haven't thought of that," Noire replied. "In the mean time, I think we'll just observe her from a distance."

In the mean time, the girl they were observing just started fishing on the pier. This act alone makes the two goddesses wonder if she was even worthy of being a goddess. She seems to have not seen any combat and have no experience in handling fearsome monsters whatsoever. However, it appears that she while does have actual weapons (a weird bow-sword weapon and a knife), they had yet to see any actual combat.

Blanc's patience was running thin, so she approached the successor and observed her from a few yards away. She eventually noticed Blanc's stare and looked behind, surprised at the presence of a visitor this early.

"Oh, good morning," she greeted before her focus returned to fishing to the hole in the ice covering the lake that she made near the pier. "I haven't seen you around Planeptune before."

"Just a traveller passing by," Blanc replied. "My friends and I are staying in Planeptune until New Year's."

"I see," she said before she gestured for Blanc to sit at the stool located next to hers. "Sit down then. I'm sure you are tired from your travels."

Blanc then sat down and observed this successor further while conversing with her. It seemed that Saturn's wisdom was also present in her as they talked, although she clearly lacked the older goddess' experience. Blanc remembered what Saturn said once before. Should the chosen successor be compatible enough, she would inherit many of her predecessor's memories. That way, the only training they have to give the newly born goddess would be on how to fight. Noire finally decided to approach the pair while they were chatting, acting as if she had been looking for Blanc.

"There you are. I've been wondering where you run off to," Noire said. "Who's this?"

"The owner of the house over there," Blanc said. "I don't know her name yet, though."

"Oh my… how rude of me," the girl smiled before taking out two hairclips to push her bangs away revealing that her face is exactly the same as Saturn. "My name is Saturn, pleased to meet you."

Hearing that name stunned both of them for a while. The girl in front of her just introduced herself as Saturn, indicating that she IS Saturn's counterpart in this Gamindustri. What are the odds that the sword actually picked the same person to continue the legacy? Not to mention, the same person means that she would be very likely to inherit the previous goddess' memories… despite that, however, they knew that this Saturn would still be new at dealing with goddess duties.

Blanc clutched the Goddess Memory within her pocket. It is possible to test her potential now, although if she didn't have any... she would be turned into a monster. That was something that she could not risk. Instead, she opted to continue her conversation.

"Saturn, huh?" Blanc smiled. "My name is Blanc. This is my friend, Noire."

"Blanc? Noire? Isn't that the names of the goddess of Lastation and Lowee?" Saturn wondered before she reeled in another fish. "Now that I think about it… you two looked similar to them… but the way you behave is… different. Are you two… imposters?"

"No, we're not. I can assure you that we're not impersonating anyone," Noire replied. "We're just travellers."

Saturn turned and looked at her companions from head to toe before sighing. It appeared that she was giving the pair the benefit of the doubt. She then continued fishing, only speaking whenever Blanc or Noire talked with her. The activity continued until Saturn started struggling with her fishing rod and was actually losing the tug-of-war against the fish.

"Urg… I think I caught a big one!" Saturn remarked as she hopelessly struggled against the fish. "Oh no…"

Noire then grabbed Saturn by her waist and tried to help her pull against the fish, but even then the pair was losing to the fish slowly and steadily. Blanc watched the ongoing struggle for a while longer before grabbing hold of Saturn's fishing pole and give it a mighty tug, causing the trio to fall down and at the same time creating a huge crack at the layer of ice that is covering the lake's surface. She then observed the crack and shook her head.

"Seems like whatever you hooked should be suffering from concussion now," Blanc smiled.

"Wow… you're strong," Saturn remarked. She then turned towards both of them and bowed. "Thanks for the backup, you two."

"Always a pleasure to lend a helping hand," Blanc replied.

"It was nothing… Blanc did most of the job," Noire said before she sighed.

"You still helped," Saturn smiled. She took out her bow and aimed a few shots at the centre of the crack, causing the ice to shatter and reveal what that she has hooked, causing her face to turn pale significantly. It seemed that whatever she has hooked was an overgrown fish of the same species that she has been catching to keep at home. She then placed her arms on the side of her head and said frantically that she would not be able to store the creature in her home.

"Why don't you sell it at the market or something?" Noire asked. "Fish are hard to come by in winter, you know."

"Hmm… maybe I should…" Saturn sighed. She toss the fishes that she had fished earlier on back into the lake before dragging the gigantic one back home with Blanc and Noire's help. It took them quite a while to fillet the fish properly, so Saturn offered them some breakfast before they get started. Since they had set out without eating anything, the pair accepted the offer and stayed. When Saturn left to the market on her motorized bicycle, the two left to return to the basilicom and wonder if she's the right person.

"I wonder if she's really the one the visions point us to," Blanc said. "She seemed to enjoy leading a simple life. We might as well be giving her responsibilities that she might not even want if we push the life of a goddess to her."

"But still… have you ever thought of how Saturn might have felt when she was chosen?" Noire asked. Blanc shrugged. "We chose to become goddesses on our own, because those were the rules of our dimension. The me in this dimension was forced to cut ties with her family and ended up pushing her best friend away after she awakened to her powers. I asked Nepgear about Saturn the other day… maybe I shouldn't have done that."

"So, what exactly happened? How did she become a goddess?" Blanc asked.

"The sword chose her as its new owner. Her predecessor then paid her a visit and took her away from her family," Noire said. "She was trained in the following years and by the fifth year, she took over her predecessor's role as the protector of her Planeptune. Could you imagine how she must've felt?"

"I… have never thought of it that way before," Blanc replied.

"Listen, Blanc… I have decided to follow through. Saturn trusts us to find her successor," Noire spoke. "As for training… we can always ask the others for help. They've been goddesses longer than we have."

Blanc nodded. The two would visit Saturn again tomorrow and hopefully convince her to come with then. In the mean time, they will return back to the basilicom to spend time with the others.

* * *

**{31/12}**

Last day of the year and pretty much the last chance for Blanc and Noire to ensure that Saturn gets a successor since they would be returning to their home dimension tomorrow night. Blanc and Noire left the basilicom carrying the sword, which is wrapped in cloth to prevent it from being damaged by the weather. Saturn's successor was in the middle of having lunch and invited them over to sit down and have a drink with her. After lunch, they have a little chat about Saturn's daily lives before Blanc dropped the bomb on her by asking if she wants to be a goddess.

"Me? A goddess? What do you mean? I'm not…"

"I'm telling you that you have the potential to be one," Blanc placed the sword that she had been carrying on the table.

"But I'm just…"

"We're serious on this matter, Saturn," Noire replied.

"I don't know if I could…"

"Please," Blanc asked. "If you're unsure, just touch the sword."

"If you say so…"

Saturn then ran her hand along the sword's flat edge before the sword gave out a bright light, which condensed to form… another Saturn, even though she's transparent.

"We meet again. It has been a while, Noire… Blanc."

"Wait… you're still alive within that thing?" Blanc asked the phantom.

"Not exactly. This is nothing more than an echo of my consciousness. A residual image that I imprinted moments before my demise on top of Neptower."

"So… is this the reason why some of the townsfolk referred to me as 'Saturn-sama'?" Saturn asked her doppelgänger.

"That was all my doing. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable."

"It was nothing, to be honest," Saturn waved it off. "I'm flattered. But… why do you look like me?"

"I'm a goddess from another dimension. I fell here and didn't find a way to return."

As Saturn and her alternate dimension counterpart conversed, Blanc and Noire transformed before joining them. They too explained that they were from another dimension but they knew the goddesses here.

"It seems that my sword has chosen you to wield it in my place… will you grant me my final wish?"

"I… I think I need some time to think," Saturn replied. "This is all too sudden..."

"It's fine. Take all the time you need. I'll be waiting."

The echo vanishes as Saturn walked out of the dining room and on to the balcony before she took her shovel and start to de-snow the area. Noire and Blanc followed, still transformed.

"What's wrong?" Noire asked.

"It's just… everything is so sudden. I just get to know you guys yesterday and today you came asking if I wanted to become a goddess," Saturn replied. "Put yourself in my shoes. You'd be shocked as well."

"True, but I'll be damned if you say no. She needs you… we need you," Blanc said. "Either way, the sword is going to pick someone to replace her."

"I'm not even sure if the sword chooses me because I'm her or because of what my potential is capable of," Saturn replied. "I'll let you guys know tonight. You can stay here if you want to."

The day goes on and both goddesses have reverted back to their normal form. The ghostly Saturn returns at night, as if she had overheard the conversation earlier that day. Saturn descended from her room upstairs, having spent time since lunch thinking about this potentially life-changing decision. She was unprepared, that's for sure, but she decided that the least she could do was to give her counterpart a proper rest. As for her new powers as a goddess, she could worry about that later. Noire and Blanc said they would help, didn't they? She'll just have to count on it.

"I have decided," Saturn declared. "I will take up the responsibility and powers of a goddess."

"Thank you."

Saturn's echo then vanishes back into the sword and soon both the sword and Saturn were engulfed in a very bright light that left Blanc and Noire covering their eyes. After the light faded, the new Saturn stood there for a short while before the sword vanishes and she collapsed. She would've hit the floor if Noire and Blanc didn't support her in time.

"I see… I see everything," she said as she struggled to remain awake. "No wonder… I could... sense that… you're desperate… she was… very important… to…"

She didn't manage to complete the sentence, but the two goddesses already know what she was going to say. Noire then gave the sleeping new goddess a piggyback ride.

"Welcome to the big family, Saturn… no… Lavender Heart," Blanc said as the two of them went outside of Saturn's home.

"I'm sure she will miss her old home real bad," Noire said. "Just like the way I missed my bedroom in Planeptune."

"With its owner gone, this place might become infested by monsters," Blanc said worriedly.

"Nothing Lastation's technology can't handle. I'll just have to cooperate with the sisters here to develop something that can drive the monsters away without the need to get violent," Noire declared proudly as the pair returned to Neptune's basilicom.

Back at Neptune's basilicom, everyone was surprised that Saturn's successor was none other than this dimension's own Saturn. They even look alike, although this Saturn was much younger than her counterpart that wrecked the basilicom during her 'dynamic entry', as Neptune called it.

"This is her replacement? She looks so adorable and much younger. Oh and also scar-less," Neptune remarked.

"My my, Neptune. I think it would be wise if you keep your volume in control. She's asleep," Pururut remarked. "Even Piishe knows."

"Sa-chan?" Piishe asked. Of course Saturn didn't reply for she was still asleep… well other than mumbling a few incoherent words.

"Welp, at least we got her back. I really do hope she would wake up before midnight though. I'd hate it if she misses New Year's," Neptune said before she walked to the couch and seated herself on Noire's lap. V Noire and V Blanc continued to monitor Saturn's condition together with Nero.

"How is she?" Nero asked.

"Just… a little bit exhausted. I don't know how you become a goddess here, but…" V Noire explained. "It seems that a forced awakening doesn't end well… maybe we should've taken her back to our dimension."

"Using a Goddess Memory should stabilize her recovery, at least that's my theory," V Vert suggested. "If what I heard from the other me was correct, after the sword transformed her into a goddess, it should be safe to give her the Goddess Memory."

"Nothing to do but to wait until she recovers enough to wake up," V Blanc said. "Where does Saturn normally stay in this basilicom?"

"We'll bring her up," Nepgear said before the candidates carried the sleeping goddess towards Saturn's old room.

"Problem solved, right?" Noire asked. "Now that you've found her successor. The only problem that remains is just how to raise her as a goddess."

"We haven't thought about that, to be honest," V Blanc replied. "Since you guys are the ones with more experience as a goddess, we were thinking of leaving her with one of you."

"She's staying here, in Planeptune. After all, she's born here. I'm sure Gear and I can handle her training," Neptune grinned. "Noire and Uni could come along and help if you want to."

"Considering that you have matured, I'll let it slide," Noire said before she patted Neptune on her head. "I would've said no if this happens a long time ago. And... I guess I could spare some time to help out with her training."

"At least… now we know why we thought we had seen Saturn again and again. It wasn't a phantom. It was her counterpart in this dimension," Blanc concluded and laughed a little. "The twins kept saying that they saw her roaming around downtown Lowee and thought that they saw a ghost."

"Chika and Leanne told me about it too," Vert agreed. "I thought they were lying. I guess I have to apologize."

Nero had gone to Neptune and Noire to pledge her support. Considering that Nero and Saturn came from the same dimension, she should be able to help the new Saturn to get used to her powers, transformation and last but not least, responsibility. Given that this Saturn have been nothing but a civilian up till this day, it would take some time for her to adjust and it is best that she's exposed to it slowly.

"Actually, I have an idea," Blanc said as she placed the last of the five 'Assassinate Creed' novels that she had begun reading since Christmas Eve. "If it is true that Saturn will inherit most of her predecessor's memories, we won't have to train her much."

"Why so?" Noire asked.

"Think about it this way. Won't the predecessor's memories bleed into her? Heck, she might become a super goddess in a short amount of time," Blanc answered. "The novels talked about how someone learned skills by reliving the memories of their ancestors."

"That might work as well. Maybe… that was the reason of her deep sleep," V Vert wondered.

"We'll know once she wakes up," V Noire remarked.

In the meantime… the candidates now observed the sleeping goddess in Saturn's old room. Exactly as V Vert said, the new Saturn seems to have fallen into a deep sleep, probably to recover from the forced awakening that she had to go through.

"Not fair… why does she get to be a goddess while we're stuck as candidates?" Ram muttered.

"Hush, Ram. That's not nice. Even though she's from this dimension, she's still Saturn. She isn't exactly bound by our rules," Rom smiled. "Besides, very big onee-chan did say that this Saturn will inherit the old Saturn's memories… but it doesn't make her into a veteran goddess instantly. We'll have to do our part to groom her."

"Make sure you two don't turn her into a troublemaker," Uni remarked. "Maybe she can spend a week every month learning stuff from another nation… or maybe we should just train her in combat."

"I can only hope that she doesn't try to be the old Saturn. No matter what you do, there's no way you can try to be someone else… even if you're still her, in a way," Nepgear said worriedly.

"I don't think she would. I overheard the other onee-chan saying that she had been living a simple life," Uni patted Nepgear on her shoulder. "It might take her some time to get used to her new duties."

Night falls, yet Saturn didn't awaken from her deep sleep. Instead of gathering by the rooftop, the group opted to visit Saturn's room and keep the sleeping goddess under control. The candidates took turns watching her, so together they were able to tell the others that so far nothing happened and she had remained still besides from breathing.

Saturn awakened rather close to midnight, however, she did nothing besides just staring at the ceiling for a good while. It was as if she didn't even notice the crowd that had gathered around her. She remained in that position before she closed her eyes and reopened them to reveal the usual goddess eyes, followed by a bright, lavender flash of light. After the sudden brightness, they group once again saw Saturn's Lavender Heart form, albeit with obvious differences to the original.

"Haah… that felt a lot better," Saturn said before she stretched and hovered around the room. "Hmm? What's wrong? You guys looked like you've seen a ghost."

"You dummy! You've been sleeping for almost half a day! Of course we'd get worried!" Ram was the first to recover.

"I'm sorry. I guess that my body wasn't ready for a sudden… well… ascension into goddess-hood," Saturn said. "While I slept, I learned a lot about you guys… and about my predecessor. I'm a beginner and I know that I won't be as good as her. But please bear with me."

"Oh we will," Pururut smiled. "So… should it be 'Nice to meet you', 'Good to see you again' or 'Glad to have you back'?"

"This is awkward," Noire said as she wiped the lone teardrop that threatened to fall.

"Don't cry, idiot," V Noire remarked, but she actually had no right to say that because she had been crying. The same goes to V Blanc, who was shedding tears of joy.

Neptune had pulled Saturn back into a tight hug, followed by the candidates, Nero and Piishe. Saturn seemed speechless for a moment before her smile returns and she hugged the others back.

"I'm home… I guess," Saturn spoke softly.

"Welcome home," Neptune beamed. "Hey, now that she is already awake, let's go to the roof!"

Saturn reverted and followed the crowd to the rooftop. Along the way, V Blanc passed her the Goddess Memory. While Saturn looked at the item questioningly, V Blanc explained that she will lose control of her goddess form in her home dimension should she not consume it, so she forced herself to just chug it down without anything else.

"Tastes weird," Saturn complained. "You guys from the other side have to eat this to activate your powers?"

"And if you are not worthy to become a goddess, you'll end up transforming into a monster," V Blanc remarked.

"How would you know I won't become a monster?" Saturn asked worriedly. It's only natural, given that she only saw and experienced what her predecessor did in first person.

"You're a goddess now. That's a fact and nothing else would change that," V Blanc reassured Saturn. "It was the plan to make the sword convert you first before feeding you with that thing to ensure that nothing funny happens."

"In case you're worried on anything, don't worry about it too much," V Noire said. "All of us are here to guide you. Just look for us when you're unsure of something."

"Thank you," Saturn smiled. Ahead of the group, Neptune opened the door and stepped outside to the rooftop. The sky was rather clear without any clouds in sight, allowing the constellations that shone above Gamindustri to be seen without any problems.

"It's so pretty up here," Saturn said. "It's no wonder my predecessor enjoys stargazing."

"Her star readings were excellent too," V Noire remarked.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do anything like that," Saturn sighed a little.

"Don't feel too bad. You had spent your life as a civilian," V Blanc smirked. "All of us had agreed to let you go scot free until tomorrow, but don't expect the same leniency when the New Year begins in earnest."

"I'd like to see you try," Saturn remarked with small bits of confidence. "I might not be an experienced goddess yet, but I know how to fight. I just didn't like fighting when it was unnecessary."

"Challenge accepted," both goddesses replied.

When midnight arrived, the goddesses and candidates bid each other a happy New Year and retreated back to their respective rooms except Saturn, who went to explore the basilicom using her predecessor's memories alone. Hours later, she went to sleep at her predecessor's room.

* * *

**{01/01}**

The final day of the holiday. The goddesses from the other universe were also returning home when night falls, so they spent the whole day together. Saturn was given a basic rundown of what a goddess was supposed to do by Noire, Uni and Nero. While Saturn wondered about setting up her own nation, she eventually opted against it because she concluded that too many nations would mess up Gamindustri.

"Four nations are enough," Saturn nodded. "Any more and it will get too crowded."

Neptune, Nepgear and Pururut were next. Pururut also told Piishe to pay attention because when she grew up, she would be doing the same jobs that they're teaching Saturn to do. Saturn seemed to breeze through most of the sample paperworks that Nepgear had prepared… until it turned out that Neptune had switched the stack for the not-so-important stuff that she had left undone before the holidays. Saturn can only sigh together with Pururut as Nepgear tried to discipline her sister, with no results whatsoever. Saturn had recalled what her predecessor did before and contemplated on doing the same. But the Neptune she saw was significantly more mature than the Neptune she met in reliving her predecessor's memories.

Early afternoon was spent with the candidates in the training room. The candidates were holding back, but it is still a four-on-one match. It seems that they have arranged this to gauge her battle stamina and combat capabilities. The sword had changed its form to accommodate to its new owner and was displaying powers it had not shown previously, although the current Saturn seemed to show problems wielding it and was using it more as a blunt weapon more than as a sword.

Under the current Saturn, the sword was sleeker in design. Despite possessing holes within the sword's frame, it was capable of going head on against Nepgear's gunblade. Nepgear noticed that the sword now has a gun handle in the sword's guard and told the other three to be cautious when approaching Saturn. Her suspicions were correct, for the weapon is a multi-role weapon similar to what Nepgear used. The tip of the sword concealed a muzzle, which fires beam projectiles much like Nepgear's own weapon. Then… what was the purpose of the holes in the sword's blade?

Saturn fumbled the fight a little because she wasn't so used to dealing with goddesses. She attempted to knock Rom and Ram out of the fight early because they were healing Nepgear and Uni. After the round of 'bullying', as V Noire puts it, ends, Rom and Ram healed Saturn's injuries while Nepgear and Uni discussed something. It seemed that while Saturn was capable, she was not used to being attacked by goddesses… or rather any target that actually uses weapons and clever tactics.

"Sorry if I didn't meet your expectations," Saturn sighed.

"On the contrary, you exceeded our expectations," Nepgear smiled and giggled.

"We were expecting an easy win, even when we're holding back," Uni nodded twice. "You forced us to get serious."

"Now that we're done, let's go get some snack," Ram said as she stretched. The other candidates nodded and Saturn followed them close behind. Even though the others have accepted her easily, she still felt out of place. Especially when she was used to be living a simple life, fishing in the lake and at sea.

The candidates shared their findings with the goddesses during lunch. The V goddesses knew how tough the candidates were compared to them and complimented on Saturn actually forcing them to get serious to end the stalemate. Nero then showed Saturn the new tricks she can do with her blade. Nero had her own theories regarding of the transformed sword and it was proven correct when Saturn transformed and channelled her magic into the blade. The reason why the sword was in its current shape is because when Saturn channelled her powers into it, it transformed to emit a powerful cutting aura capable of slicing even the thickest alloy they know without the need for any kinetic energy whatsoever. Of course, this ability drains a lot of power from Saturn and she could not use it very often.

The rest of late afternoon was spent together with the V dimension goddesses because their time in Neptune's dimension was coming to an end. Pururut had wanted to stay longer but V Blanc and V Noire said that they're willing to drag her home and face any of the Iris-related consequences together. Pururut looked at Saturn for help, to which Saturn declared that she can't help her there.

"But don't worry. When I'm free, I would pay a visit and help out," Saturn smiled. "In the mean time, I will stay here and help them out. After all, that is what my predecessor would want me to do."

Evening came and the V goddesses bid their friends goodbye before stepping through the portal that would lead them back to Pururut's Planeptune.

"They're gone," Saturn sighed. "I wonder when they'll return…"

"They'll be back next year to celebrate Christmas and New Year's again," Neptune reassured the new goddess. "They might visit us again, but I'm not sure when they would be free enough to do so."

Nero bid the new Saturn farewell before returning home to Saturn's Retreat, although Nero gave her the coordinates of the residence saying that the house is now hers as well. The others also transformed and flew back home, save for the black siblings. They chose to remain together with their beloved.

"Alright, play time's over. Tomorrow we'll start getting the facts straight on your duties," Noire said as she patted Saturn on the shoulder.

"Just don't go all out on her yet, sis. She might collapse from the sudden change of pace," Uni replied. "Can't expect her to do everything, you know…"

"That's true Noire. Just start from the small tasks first," Neptune remarked. "I'm sure whatever that Blanc said earlier will do its magic."

"Whatever that Blanc said?" Saturn asked. "Which Blanc?"

"The Blanc from this dimension, of course," Neptune smiled widely. "The one that wears a coat, not a kimono."

"What did she say?" Saturn asked once again.

"She suspected that tonight you would be reliving more of the other Saturn's memories," Nepgear explained. "And at the same time learning more on what she did in terms of combat and goddess duties at the same time."

"Hmm… that might be helpful," Saturn nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"It'll no doubt be great if we didn't have to spoon-feed you with the minor details, so pay attention to your dreams," Noire remarked as she returned to Neptune's room together with the room's actual owner before closing it.

"Well, we best be off. Let's go, Uni," Nepgear said before she and Uni went to Nepgear's room. That left Saturn alone to ponder what life had in store for her. She certainly didn't expect becoming a goddess and on New Year's Eve.

"Well well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes."

Saturn turned around and spotted Histoire.

"You're… Histy?" Saturn asked.

"It's Histoire," Histoire introduced herself. "You must be Saturn's successor."

"Yes, I am. I am her from this dimension," Saturn bowed before the oracle.

"I thought as much," Histoire replied. "You remembered where your room is, I suppose?"

"Yes I do. Thank you, Histoire," Saturn smiled.

"Your new life starts here, young goddess. If you need anything, just ask," Histoire smiled before going towards her room.

"Only if the answer takes less than three minutes," Saturn said before she smirked.

"T-that's something that you shouldn't remember!" Histoire's voice echoed through the halls. It seemed that the oracle heard what she said.

* * *

**And that marks the end of this chapter. Next up in line would be Valentine's Day, but it would be done during the timeskip between Victory and mk2 instead of after Victory due to the plans I have on my mk2 and Victory fanfics. They're still in planning stages but you can look forward to it.**

**This is Strike Noir signing off.**

**P.S.: Happy New Year's to you, my readers.**


	3. Chocolate Fest

******Strike Noir here. **Yeah... valentine's day coming close, so I figured that I should write this one out. As you can see from the title, this story is going to involve lots of food (especially chocolate), so don't read it when you're hungry or you'll end up feeling worse... 

******disclaimer: I only own my OCs. I wish I own the series so that I could make some pairings canon, but eh... they all belong to Compile Heart and I'm sure CH can do a much better job at shipping them... if they're ever shipping them that is.**

******Go on then. Get reading! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Chocolate Fest**

**[Lastation - Basilicom] {12/02}**

"A party? At my place?"

"Of course! It's the best place for everyone to go!"

"Nep…"

"Please!"

"Fine… just promise me you'll get your work done by this weekend."

"Yay! You're the best, Saturn! I always know I can count on you!"

"Better get working before I change my mind."

"Okies!"

With that, Neptune cut the phone call. Saturn sighed as she placed her phone back in her pocket as she returned inside Lastation's basilicom. Noire, Uni and Nepgear were working hard but Neptune hardly worked. Of course, with Valentine's Day approaching swiftly, she was sure the goddesses would try to clear their work ahead of time so that they could have enough time. To be honest, the pair that had to end up working hard was always Vert and Neptune. Whenever holiday season comes close, they would work feverishly to ensure that they had enough free time to spare and hang out with their fellow goddesses… at my house.

Ever since the four combined resources to construct my home, which marked as Saturn's retreat on the maps that they are using, they always used it to spend a weekend together. Well, either that or the quarterly Goddess meeting… which is actually just the four spending time away from work since only two days are used for the actual meeting, with the remaining days of the week used to… pretty much do whatever that they want to do. Then again, Saturn suspected that it was the reason why they gave the building plenty of rooms, so that all of them will have some privacy if they do come in a large group.

This time, Neptune wanted to hold a gathering especially for Valentine's Day. After she finished negotiating with me, she would go and inform everyone else about it. Of course, the first to receive the news was none other than Noire. While Noire said that she would only go if she had the time, I could see that she was smiling inside at the thought of being able to see Neptune again. She had nothing else to worry about though, given how diligent she and Blanc were. Although, Blanc definitely planned her work schedule well, whereas Noire was more towards the type that cleared everything in one go.

Noire's pile of work decreased rapidly, as was Uni's. With Kei's workload decreasing since Noire and Uni were getting more and more efficient, the shrewd oracle was thinking of getting some side jobs to keep her mind occupied. She should be glad, though. After all, the two goddesses of Lastation only do everything. Before long, Noire and Uni found themselves in the kitchen, trying to find ingredients to make some chocolate, no doubt for their respective purple.

Saturn had no one in mind to give a romantic chocolate to anyone, so she decided that she would borrow the kitchen to make some friendship chocolate for the other goddesses, and maybe the makers. Noire was rather nervous and panicky for some reason, while Uni was slightly calmer, in the very least. Well… slightly. Not so much. They were fumbling about in the kitchen for the very first time, as Saturn tried to avoid bumping into them and spilling chocolate on them.

"What in the world is going on?" a familiar voice asked, causing Noire, Uni and Saturn to stop moving and look at the entrance as Arc looked at them with a wry smile. "You guys are way too jumpy. Valentine's Day is not due until tomorrow, so just do it slowly."

"Well…"

Noire didn't manage to complete that sentence as the sister sneezed one after another for no apparent reason whatsoever.

"I understand Noire-sama and Uni wanted to make this special for your…" Arc cleared her throat. "… beloved, but I think it will do you better if you keep calm and carry on instead of panicking like that."

Seeing the truth in her subordinate's calm remark, Noire and Uni slapped their cheeks a couple of times gently to get it together before they proceeded on calmly. This time, there were no mistakes. Noire had given a thought on what kind of chocolate she would be making for Neptune before she eventually settled for a chocolate cake. Judging by Neptune's speed when it came to devouring anything sweet, even a cake would be finished in a matter of minutes, anyway.

Uni, on the other hand, decided to try her hand on making some of the chocolate pearls that she saw in Planeptune's confectionery shop a while ago. Also, contrary to Noire's choice of dark and milk chocolate for the cake, Uni's chocolate pearls are made using white chocolate. I wonder how she's going to shape the pearls, though. It didn't seem to be an easy task. Still, Uni put her heart and soul into each and every single one as it cooled and was placed into a container that was designed to keep the pearls fresh.

Saturn, on the other hand, opted to go for the generic, heart-shaped chocolates that are written with the letters 'BFF' in the middle of them. Since there isn't enough chocolate left due to what happened earlier that day, Saturn's heart shaped chocolates came in all three flavours. At first Noire wanted to ask why Saturn kept her chocolates rather simple, until she recalled that Saturn was the only one from her dimension in this gamindustri, so it was only logical that she would not have romantic feelings for anyone, yet.

Saturn never did mention anything about her home, though. It was as if she already got used to living here that home was nothing but a distant memory right now. Since Noire was still waiting for her cake to finish baking before she could continue and Uni had finished hers, the siblings helped Saturn to divide the chocolates she made into similarly sized portions before Saturn huffed and placed both of her hands on her hips.

"Arc, you think you're free this weekend?" Noire asked her subordinate.

"Unfortunately I will be rather busy," Arc smiled nervously.

"Is that so?" Noire asked, causing Arc to nod. "What a pity."

"It's alright," Arc sighed. "Some of the girls at the barracks are already fawning over me… they're not even worth the trouble they cause sometimes…"

**[Lowee – Basilicom]**

"And then and then?" Ram excitedly asked Atlus, who was teaching the twins how to make chocolate chip cookies.

Blanc was on the other side of the kitchen, thinking of what kind of friendship chocolate she could give to the others. She then decided that while she's using milk chocolate, she would be making different shapes and sizes depending on the person who was receiving it. With that in mind, Blanc started to work on her chocolates. She was thankful that Neptune actually planned ahead of time this year, and two days is good enough to actually make a decent chocolate without panicking, something which she was sure the goddess and candidate of Lastation would be doing right now.

The twins had decided earlier that day that ordinary chocolate was boring and they decided to ask for Atlus' help to make something different. Atlus suggested making chocolate chip cookies, which they were now trying to make as a group. Atlus herself didn't make any, other than the samples that the twins struggled to imitate, because she knew she would be too busy to give out chocolates because she would be working in Lowee's great library while the goddesses took a breather at Saturn's home.

Because the twins were a little… playful with their cookie dough earlier on, their side of the kitchen was incredibly messy. Blanc was content that they didn't involve her this time, so there were no distractions and she would still have some time to continue reading on the book that Atlus lent her a month ago. After she finished moulding her chocolates, Blanc let them cool in an area that was safe from the twins' antics and left the kitchen.

Rom followed Atlus' instructions with ease, while Ram just mimicked what Rom was doing in order to get it right. Earlier on, they were trying a little too hard, resulting in a number of wasted cookie dough that was thrown away. The twins were also trying their hardest to avoid the temptation of going into a food fight, because they knew how severe their punishment would be if both their elder sister and Atlus is involved. Given that Atlus just recently learned where the twins' pressure points are, it would make the thought of punishment even worse.

Rom put a lot of effort in the batch that was going to be given to Nepgear, hoping that the older candidate would notice her feelings. Rom knew that Nepgear and Uni looked so perfect together that she couldn't help but to feel jealous at their relationship. On the other hand, she sighed at the thought of them pairing up because Uni was too afraid to confess. Rom thought, maybe if she pressured Uni, she might be able to get the black candidate to actually confess at the thought of the Rom taking Nepgear away from her. Rom was fine with anything as long as Nepgear is happy.

"What's wrong, Rom? You seem to be deep in thought," Atlus asked.

"Oh… it's nothing…" Rom replied. "Actually… it's about Uni-chan."

"What about Uni?" Atlus asked again. "Is she bothering you?"

"No… Nepgear-chan is happy whenever she's around Uni-chan, but Uni-chan has yet to confess," Rom explained. "I am thinking on what I can do to make sure it happens this weekend."

"My little Rom is all grown up, I see," Atlus pats the candidate as Rom returns her focus on the cookies. "I suggest you make the cookies for Nepgear special and make sure that you gave it to her when Uni is around. That is bound to get Uni's attention."

Rom nodded and continued to mould her cookie dough on the baking pan. As for Ram, she was having a lot of trouble moulding her cookie dough. Atlus went over to show Ram how it was done before she looked at the trash can. It was… filled nearly to its brim by failed cookie dough that the twins produced during their failed attempts earlier on. Well… maybe next year they won't waste so much, Atlus thought. After all, this was the first time that they actively participated in the event.

A while later, they were finally done with their cookies and Atlus got the oven heated up. The twins constantly kept an eye on the cookies before they got bored and returned back to the table. In the mean time Atlus helped to clean whatever mess that Blanc and the twins left in the kitchen. At that moment, Mina was recovering from flu. Normally, catching a flu virus isn't very critical until you realize what kind of climate Lowee has. With her stuck in her room, Atlus had to cover for Mina's tasks and she gladly welcomed Valentine's Day as a day to take a breather.

Blanc returned to the kitchen when the twins were on their last batch of cookies. With her chocolates ready, Blanc divided them equally into small treat bags and then placed them in the fridge. There are some leftovers, so Blanc decides to give her sisters a taste of what she made. Rom looked as if she was in heaven, while Ram was savouring the taste of her elder sister's chocolate.

"Is it good?" Blanc asked.

"Mmm," Rom only nods twice in response while Ram was saying how delicious it was.

"Was that your first attempt, Blanc-sama?" Atlus asked as she took of her apron.

"No, actually," Blanc smiled at the thought. "A while ago… there's someone I liked… never really did ask that person out. I can't even remember who that person is now."

"I think Blanc-sama would be a little too young back then," Atlus smiled as she rested her head on the counter.

"True," Blanc smiled before she turned her attention to the twins. "How did the two of you do then?"

"We're satisfied with the cookies," Ram answered while Rom nods.

"Actually, you two do not need to overdo it," Blanc said as she tasted one of the cookies that the pair made. "Mmm… this is definitely better than my expectations."

"Actually…" Rom puts both of her fingers together before she whispered to Blanc's ear. For the first time ever, Ram was not even the least bit interested. Maybe she already knew about it to begin with. When Rom finished her explanations, Blanc smiled and patted the younger girl.

"You know, Rom? I think this time, onee-chan will participate in your little pranks," Blanc remarked, surprising both Atlus and Ram. "But I'll do so my way."

**[Leanbox – Basilicom] {13/02}**

Vert sat at the edge of her bed, thinking, as Chika and Leanne looked at her. Vert seemed unsure on what she could get the others for Valentine's Day, given that everyone else would be giving something chocolate related. The custom originated from Leanbox after all, but the other three nations quickly welcomed the idea.

"What's the matter, onee-chan?" Leanne asks.

"An idea… I need an idea," Vert says. "I'm pretty sure that the goddesses will give out chocolates. I need a way to make mine a little different."

"Well… there's always liquor ones," Chika replied. "But then again… it might be a little improper for the group in Lowee…"

"That's exactly what I'm worried about," Vert sighed. "Can't think of any type of chocolate that I can give to Blanc and her sisters."

"You can always give them chocolates that has fruits inside, or maybe nuts," Leanne suggested.

"Fruits will be better and more fitting, I guess," Vert nodded before she stood up and left the bedroom. Leanne and Chika followed closely behind, wondering what kind of fruits Vert would choose for the chocolates. Vert was writing something on the paper before she handed the slip to Leanne. "Here. Help me buy the strawberries from Leanbox's marketplace. Make sure you pick the fresh ones."

"At once, onee-chan," Leanne does a mock salute before she left.

"Chika, help me prepare the chocolates so that we do not need to waste any time when Leanne returns," Vert ordered her oracle, who proceeded to do exactly as Vert said. The two gathered whatever they could find and started working on melting the chocolate and turning it into a coating for the strawberries.

Leanne returned not so long later to surprise the pair, for she managed to find not only good quality ones, but also miniature sized. She had recalled that Blanc loved eating the miniature strawberries whenever she was in Leanbox to pay a visit. The twins especially enjoyed the delicious treat and often asked for more, but mini strawberries are rare, even in Leanbox, and would normally cost a fortune. However, they are currently having a lot of harvest so the price dropped by a huge amount.

"Excellent work as always, Leanne," Vert praised her adopted younger sister.

Leanne took out her apron and set out to help Vert and Chika by taking care of the strawberries. After washing and cutting off the leaves, Leanne head over to Vert and Chika who were testing the chocolate to make sure that it was neither too sweet nor too bitter. The twins would love something sweet, no doubt, but Blanc would get angry if they consumed too much. While this was going on, Chika realized that Leanne had taken the opportunity to purchase additional goods while she's at the marketplace.

"Are those… purple raspberries?" Chika asked while Leanne was trying to clean the fruits.

"Ah… yeah, sort off," Leanne said. "These will be used for the chocolates to be given to the sisters from Lastation."

"Did you even know just how rare those purple raspberries are?" Chika asked again. Leanne nodded and replied that they cost a fortune, normally at least.

"I've got connections, though," Leanne smiled and she finished washing her two batches of raspberries, one black, one purple. Seeing the raspberries caused Chika's head to click.

"I see what you did there," Chika smirked. "Well, I'm sure there are enough chocolate for everyone."

Vert was initially unsure of what to do to coat the fruits, before she settled on making sure that the chocolate covering the fruit forms a round shape so that it looks like any ordinary chocolate bar, except that it has fruits hidden within. Since the made extras, Vert made sure that Chika and Leanne got some of the chocolates with the strawberries inside as an early Valentine's Day gift, because Vert knew that she would not be there for them during the actual day itself.

"Thank you, onee-sama," Chika smiled.

"You don't have to, onee-chan," Leanne said before she helped Chika to put their chocolates back in the fridge.

"No. it's alright. I felt bad leaving you two here in Leanbox rather often," Vert smiled.

"It's alright, as long as onee-sama is happy, I'm happy," Chika smiled before her face darkened. "Even if it means Vert-sama is spending more time with that… shorty."

"Well, she has two younger sisters," Vert replied. "And Leanne here just won't call me onee-chan until I told her that not calling me that will be a crime."

"I'm sorry…" Leanne apologized. "Onee-chan has been taking care of me ever since I was a baby I tend to think that calling you mother will be more appropriate."

"I don't want you to make me feel old," Vert remarked. "Making me feel old is a crime."

"Aren't you like an older sister to the others as well?" Leanne asked mischievously, putting an emphasis on the word older, causing Vert to calmly walk over behind the idol, followed by pinching her cheeks and pulling them away.

"I wonder… what did you say earlier on?" Vert asked, still smiling.

"I'm sorry!" Leanne said.

Chika only looked at their interaction and felt jealous. When she joined the basilicom, Leanne is just a young, shy girl that refuses to leave Vert's side regardless. Vert always dressed Leanne up in her old clothes too. Now, she's all grown up and is raking in a lot of credits (and shares for Vert). While Leanne does have her shortcomings, Vert loved her very much because Vert didn't have a biological sister to call her own, unlike the other three. Chika was surprised that Leanne actually considered her as a sister as well, given how she grew up in both Chika and Vert's presence, it should be obvious.

"I'll be leaving after dinner," Vert announced to the pair. "In the mean time, let's go downtown and enjoy a good drink."

**[Planeptune – Basilicom]**

"Nepgear! Help me out!"

"No."

"Please!"

"No."

"Pretty please!"

"No. No. And for the third time, No!"

Neptune pouted as she tries to clear her work. Yes, she had been trying to accomplish that since yesterday, but given that this is Neptune we're talking about, she has yet to finish her work. She even took a leaf from Noire's book and attempted to clear the job overnight, only for her to fall asleep and waking up on the next day (which is today) without any progress. Of course, with time running out, she was getting rather desperate. She had tried asking Histoire for help, but the oracle was away, handling the current events that were going on in the guild. That left her with asking Nepgear for help.

Nepgear, despite her usual willingness to help, was a little unwilling to sacrifice the time she has left to finish her Valentine's Day gifts for the other goddesses and candidates. She had helped Neptune for the entire yesterday, but did little to lighten her older sister's workload. That was simply because Neptune had been skipping on work again despite Saturn's warnings. As much as she wanted to help Neptune, Nepgear couldn't risk losing precious time to make her Valentine's Day gifts for everyone. No one knows what she was planning, other than the fact that she had four large heart-shaped chocolates that were decorated nicely cooling in the fridge. One of them is obviously for Neptune, but one can only wonder who the other three belonged to.

IF and Compa only saw Nepgear roaming in and out of her room, with tools and parts to make something. She even made sure that she locked the door every time she left her room. It wasn't something that Nepgear normally would do, given how she wasn't good at keeping secrets unless she was explicitly told to keep a piece of information as a secret. Simply said, for Nepgear to be actively taking precautions that whatever she's working on is not leaked, she must be working on something big. She gave IF and Compa some chocolates before she apologized that she won't be at Planeptune on the day itself.

The sun is now directly overhead as the clock struck twelve. Neptune was getting desperate that she only ate something light for lunch instead of actually eating properly. On the other hand, Nepgear received a text message, letting her know that Blanc, the twins, Saturn, Uni and Neptune already arrived at Saturn's retreat, with Vert coming over in the evening.

"Oh dear… at the rate this is going on, we're going to be the last one to arrive," Nepgear looked at her sister worriedly. "I wanted to step in and help, but…"

With a last glance at Neptune, Nepgear returned back to her room to finish whatever that she was working on. Three hours later, Nepgear's little project was finally over and she slowly packed the pieces of machinery that she completed alongside with some dark chocolate bars, whipped cream, 5 bananas, and a packet of… marshmallows? What exactly is Nepgear planning with all those stuff? The other goddesses had been taking their time to prepare their gift, but Nepgear, aside from getting the heart shaped chocolates for four others, had nothing else done.

Outside, Neptune finally finished whatever that she promised Saturn to complete yesterday. Initially, she sighed with relief before another thought struck her. She had been slacking for the entire day yesterday and now, the day was almost coming to an end while she has yet to even prepare her Valentine's Day presents… aside of the one that she prepared for Noire some time ago.

"Oh no! What am I going to do?" Neptune panicked when she looked at the clock. She was horrified. Time was running short and she barely had anything done. Starving but at the same time determined to not ruin everyone else's celebrations, Neptune made a quick dash towards the kitchen, hopefully she would manage to make at least something by dinner time. When she reached the kitchen, she sighed in relief.

"Gear!" Neptune nearly cried for joy when she saw her sister in the kitchen, preparing something.

"About time. Let's finish your chocolates, onee-chan," Nepgear smiled.

Thankfully, Neptune already bought the ingredients while she slacked yesterday, so Nepgear was able to get started. With the white chocolate melting in the pot, all the sisters needed right now was to mix in the cookie bits into the chocolate.

"Wait… aren't these my cookies?" Neptune asked as she realized just what she was holding.

"Yes, they are. Hopefully this will make onee-chan learn not to let work stack so much when it is close to any big holidays," Nepgear said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Neptune pouted, but didn't argue much nonetheless. She has enough common sense to know that they were already running out of time and it was all her fault. Neptune dumped the cookie bits into the white chocolate mixture that Nepgear was working on before the pair poured the mix into one of the odd self-made machines that Nepgear made quite some time ago to quickly cool and shape the chocolates into small mounds before it was quickly deposited into treat bags.

While the machine was doing this, Nepgear made something for the sisters' dinner. Neptune had nearly skipped lunch, so using the amount of time left Nepgear made her two plates full of fried rice, a recipe that she picked up from Saturn during their adventures back a while ago. Neptune quickly devoured through the food while looking very happy. Not before long, the sisters finished their dinner and packed Neptune's chocolates in her bag before they left together, transformed. Neptune wondered what Nepgear was carrying in her shopping bag, with Nepgear saying that Neptune would see it tomorrow.

"Is that so? I suppose that is something for everyone then?" Neptune asked.

"Yes. It's something for everyone," Nepgear replied. "Don't worry, onee-chan, you still have one of my special chocolates."

**[Saturn's Retreat]**

"Looks like they're here," Saturn said calmly as the doorbell rang. The others were busy with themselves, so she opened the door and welcomed the purple sisters into her humble home. "You're late."

"I'm sorry," was Neptune's intial response, before she perks up again and enters the house, making a beeline to her private room. Nepgear, on the other hand, deposited the items she carried into the kitchen first before she also left upstairs. The mansion is large enough to even accommodate the makers and would still have room for more visitors. Unfortunately, the makers were all busy with something and opted to remain within the nation that they were affiliated with to assist their oracle.

Now that everyone was here, Saturn followed Nepgear upstairs. The others are in the game room, where a large, flat-screen screen TV that Saturn purchased was located. The four goddesses donated their consoles and controllers, so everyone was able to enjoy any games from another nation over here.

Earlier on, Noire and Vert was using the room for a series of Razeblue matches. The two were rather competitive when it comes to that fighting game and Noire had spent days learning frame data and hitbox of Vert's main and her main, so that she could fight Vert back cautiously. By the time Neptune and Nepgear arrived, the candidates already gathered in the room and were in the middle of playing a party game. After Nepgear dropped her belongings in her private room, she joined the candidates in the room to spend the night.

Blanc was… still in the library wing, which is filled with copies of books from her nation's great library. However, it seemed that Saturn only made copies of the fiction books, so she found it easier to locate what she had wanted to read in her spare time. Apparently some of Falcom's and Blanc's own works were included in the list, causing Blanc to look at the books that she herself authored (with a pen name). Looking at the books as a seller and looking at the books located in someone else's library gave… a different feeling. She was glad that Saturn didn't know who the author was, but at the same time, she wanted to let the lavender haired goddess know that she, as the author, could provide her with actual books rather than replicas from the library.

Vert had returned to her room in order to continue her MMO on her gaming laptop. Nepgear had helped Vert to make sure that it was upgraded in every single way possible, which surprisingly included making the laptop lighter while optimizing it for gaming. After putting on her headset and getting ready, there was no way to stop Vert unless Saturn completely turned off the electricity in the mansion.

Noire and Neptune was nowhere to be seen, but given that she had confessed to Neptune a few days back, Saturn assumed that the pair must have wanted to spend some time alone. Not that anyone else knew about it, of course. Saturn can't help but to worry a little. Noire was still under that item's influence, so hopefully nothing happened tonight. Especially if there was a chance that Gear would find out. Noire would be in a lot of trouble once that happened, given how protective Nepgear can be to her older sister.

With nothing else to be done, Saturn retreated to her room and sleeps for the day. Blanc also returned from the library wing and went straight to bed, with the twins following soon after, yawning while they head for their shared room. Nepgear and Uni stayed behind in the kitchen, mainly because Nepgear wanted to accompany Uni before she slept. Uni was getting rather desperate at her chest issues and so she resorted to drinking lots of milk to make up for it. Nepgear was trying to assure her that she's perfect as she is, but Uni would have none of it. After that glass of milk, the two candidates retreated to their respective rooms. A few minutes to midnight, Neptune left Noire's room as well.

**[Saturn's Retreat] {14/02}**

Morning arrived. Noire and Uni were the first to leave their room to head to the now closed air bath. Normally it would be open air, but spring is still a little chilly, so Saturn had closed the otherwise open ceiling. They were soon joined by Nepgear, causing Uni's face to blush as red as a tomato. Saturn entered next, with Blanc following behind her. The twins showed up next, followed closely behind by Neptune who was half awake, but promptly woke up when Ram sprayed the bath's hot water into her face. The last to wake up was none other than Vert, who only had a few hours worth of sleep.

"Up all night, didn't you, thunder tits?" Blanc asked.

"Yeah. My guild needs me…" Vert said as she yawned. "I can't just leave them hanging."

"I admire your devotion," Saturn said. "I can only hope that you would do something like that for your goddess duties as well."

Vert relaxed as she soaked in the warm waters. The others were talking among themselves and during the time, Neptune inched closer to Noire while Uni went over to talk with Nepgear. Saturn talked with Blanc about what she can do to help, because next week, she would be in Lowee to help out.

"Mina is ill, so you'll have to fill in her duties when you come over," Blanc said. "Atlus was barely keeping up pulling double duty on both helping my work and teaching my sisters."

"You can count on me," Saturn smiled.

"Now, if only Neptune is as responsible as you or Nepgear," Blanc sighed. She said it in such a tone that Neptune actually heard it. "It would make discussion so much easier without having to resort to violence."

"Neptune is fine as she is," Noire spoke up, clearly angry that Blanc just casually insulted Neptune. "You could use some anger management lessons."

"She is doing well in terms of anger management," Saturn defended. "In fact, contrary to what you three said, Blanc's rather quiet and easy to communicate with, even when the twins were making a ruckus elsewhere."

Just as Saturn finished saying that, a wave of water hits both Neptune and Noire, followed by the sound of uncontrolled giggling. It seemed that the twins still have a bone to pick with Neptune and Noire, who was seated in the tub right next to her, was also caught in the line of fire. Annoyed, both of them retaliated. Thankfully, the five of us here moved towards one side as we saw two goddesses chasing after two candidates… well swimming would be more correct for Rom and Ram, because they actually have to keep to one side of the tub if they want to keep their head above the water. Saturn designed the tub to be deep in one end and shallow in the other.

One by one, they got out of the tub to shower. Vert fell asleep on the tub so Nepgear and Ram woke her up while everyone waited to use the shower. Thankfully, nothing happens while they were showering, besides Nepgear and Uni taking care of the twins before they do each other. While being under Nepgear and Uni respectively, the twins admit that it was comfortable, but nowhere near Atlus' skill level. It wasn't even one day yet since they left Lowee and they already missed their skilled caretaker.

Uni, as usual, blushed uncontrollably whenever Nepgear was washing her back. Although, Saturn recalled, the first time they took bath together before they set off to the graveyard to rescue their sisters, Uni nearly overheated when Nepgear washed her back. She was already having difficulty undressing when Nepgear was around, let alone when Nepgear could see everything. She was also trying her hardest not to look, which was difficult considering that the girl that she liked so much was the one what got to wash her back.

Trying to get Nepgear off her mind, Uni looked around to see Neptune enjoying her moment washing Noire's back. Noire seemed to be in complete control of the situation, compared to Uni who barely kept herself together. But she had to. She cannot afford to lose control. Not with everyone watching. After not so long, Nepgear was done washing Uni's back and it was Uni's turn to do Nepgear's back. After spending some time to calm down, Uni started her job.

After bath was breakfast, so Saturn went to the kitchen with Vert to make a standard Leanbox breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausages, bacons and hash browns. Vert had wanted to serve them on a plate, but Saturn took out the tortilla bread that Uni placed in the kitchen fridge yesterday and heated them while the she was frying the bacon. Vert was unsure with what Saturn was trying to do, but obliged nonetheless and began slicing the hash browns and the sausages. After the bacon was done, Saturn also cut the bacon slices with cooking scissors before using the melted cheese she prepared, placed them on top of the tortilla bread and then wrap the eggs, sliced sausages, bacons and hash browns using the bread.

"Interesting concept," Vert thought as she helped Saturn to make her wraps. After it was done, they took the wraps out for breakfast to start.

Nepgear immediately pestered Saturn for the recipe, while the others commented her for attempting something new or being original. Neptune, however, did nothing like that and instead showed how much she actually liked the food by eating in impossible speeds, nearly choking herself in the process. Fortunately, Nepgear reacted quickly and gave her older sister some water.

After breakfast, the day proceeded on as normal with the goddesses chatting on multilateral issues such as monster problems, safe transports and such. The candidates listened as their sisters discussed, while Saturn was just there as the one who records the meetings. Of course, she gave her own suggestions whenever the four was unable to reach a conclusion.

Tea time marks the actual start of the event. Friendship chocolates were given out and distributed among the girls, except for Noire who just realized that she didn't make any for the others. Thankfully Uni had some spare milk chocolate pearls in hand, which she made in case this happened, so she gave them to Noire to spare her sister from feeling ashamed of herself. Uni's own chocolate pearls were made of white chocolate, but the special container she's giving to Nepgear comes in all three flavours (milk, dark and white). The container was still back in Uni's room, inside the mini fridge.

After the chocolates exchanged hand, Nepgear impressed everyone by setting up a fondue, causing Neptune's head to click. So that was what she was trying to make. A chocolate fondue machine. Trust Nepgear, the machine otaku, to actually pull this off. Ram and Rom quickly dipped their marshmallow in the fondue before taking a bite. While they were having the chocolate fondue, Blanc and Vert prepared some tea so that their mouth wouldn't taste too sweet.

After dinner was the time they give away their special chocolates. Noire and Neptune met by the mansion's garden before they headed to Noire's room to share the chocolate cake, with Neptune apologizing that she couldn't make anything special for Noire. Noire accepted the apology as the pair settled to enjoy the cake Noire made a few days ago.

Uni had wanted to pass Nepgear her chocolates, but after seeing Rom and Blanc giving the purple candidate their own special chocolate stopped her dead in her tracks. Not to mention, with Nepgear giving special chocolates to Neptune, Saturn and Rom (telling her to share it with Ram), caused Uni to feel a little depressed. Uni eventually mustered the courage to knock the door that leads to Nepgear's private room before entering and passing the chocolate to her. She was about to bolt out of the purple candidate's room, but Nepgear gripped her wrist and prevented Uni from leaving before she also gave Uni her own special chocolate, which was very different from the ones that Neptune, Saturn and Rom received.

Instead of returning back to their respective rooms, Neptune and Uni remained in Noire's and Nepgear's room respectively. Saturn was having a backlash from the liquored chocolate that she shared with Vert earlier on, since she couldn't handle alcohol very well. The twins were making sure that they didn't eat everything in one go, or Atlus and Mina would give them more than a few hours of lecturing. Blanc merely kept her chocolates instead of consuming them immediately, and is working on something inside her room. Vert rested in her room, too tired to continue playing her game tonight because Saturn was… unexpectedly rough when she was tipsy.

**[Saturn's Retreat] {15/02}**

Noire, Uni, Neptune and Nepgear woke up first before they took a quick shower and moved to the kitchen to make pancakes for today's breakfast. The goddesses will be returning back home to their nations before lunch, so everyone got up rather early, including Vert. Saturn was the last one to wake up, still dizzy over what happened in the previous night. Uni passed the nation-less goddess some apple juice in order to help.

After breakfast, the goddesses enjoyed each other's company before they bid each other farewell and return back to their respective nations, Saturn following Blanc back home to Lowee because the third week of the month was always spent there.

* * *

**I'm sorry if this fic is only half as long as my other fics because it only involves a total of three days. If you think the quality of the fic drops, I have no other reason than to admit that school stuff (and other events) are interrupting my fics and I can't exactly shelf them in favour of polishing the fic, as much as I wanted to. I've been writing something huge, but I can't really post them for now because it will give a lot of spoilers for my main mk2 and V fic.**

**This is Strike Noir signing off.**

**P.S.: Happy [Valentine's Day / Single Awareness Day] to you, folks**


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